conservation

What is Conservation?

'Conservation' is an active process that involves the preservation and enhancement of quality landscapes and settlements; wildlife habitats; and our historic and cultural heritage. South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) is committed to the conservation of both the natural and historic built environment. The objectives of this service are therefore to prioritise policies and programmes to foster the protection, continued use, celebration and public enjoyment of the district's diverse, fragile and evolving heritage resource.

SCDC has adopted a positive and pro-active approach to its conservation responsibilities for many years, with a core conviction that its objectives can only be achieved by developing joint local initiatives with residents and parishes, as well as by strengthening partnerships with local and national interest and amenity organisations.

The pace of change in South Cambridgeshire is significant and has serious implications for the district's heritage resources. The challenge for SCDC is, therefore, to plan and manage change, in order to maintain the best and most significant components of the heritage resource, while enabling the historic grain of the landscape to guide its continual evolution.

Cabinet Portfolio Holder and staff

The service is currently under the direction of the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Planning Services. The Portfolio holder also acts as the Historic Environment Champion for the district with the tasks to:

  • Help unlock the untapped potential of the local historic environment.
  • Provide leadership for heritage issues within the local authority.
  • Ensure co-ordination of heritage issues across the local authority's departments and ensure that the historic environment is taken into account in all of the Council's policies and strategies.
  • Identify opportunities for the authority to use the historic environment in the pursuit of its objectives.
  • Develop a close working relationship with the local Design Champion to develop a seamless approach to the built and natural environment.

The staff of the conservation section comprises 11 officers dedicated to providing specialist professional advice, in order to deliver the Council's responsibilities and objectives of ensuring the preservation and enhancement of the district's built and natural heritage.

Key Objectives of the Service

The key objectives of the Conservation Service focus on the establishment of effective partnerships to preserve and enhance the built and natural environment with local residents, parishes, the voluntary sector, and local and national heritage organisations in order to:

a) preserve and enhance the district's extensive built heritage resource, comprising historic buildings and areas and archaeological sites/monuments of national, local, and landscape interest.

b) secure the highest quality architectural design for private development and public works within the district in Conservation Areas to preserve and enhance their character and appearance.

c) preserve and enhance the District's designed and rural landscapes, by the protection of important trees, hedges and woodlands.

d) improve the design quality of both hard and soft landscaping within private development and public works.

e) protect and enhance the biodiversity of the District in accordance with the national and local action plans.

f) work towards the improvement in the standard of design of new buildings and landscapes across the District, including in Northstowe and the major new settlements.

Service components

The Council's objectives are addressed by developing detailed design guidance and strategies, implementing statutory controls, and managing partnership enhancement initiatives, particularly relating to the following components (for more information on an individual service component, please click on the component title):