The Historic Environment of Basingstoke and Deane

The Borough of Basingstoke and Deane has a wealth of architectural heritage with over 1800 Listed Buildings, more than 40 Conservation Areas and around 400 Locally Listed Buildings. There are also 97 Registered Historic Parks and Gardens, of which 10 are listed by English Heritage. These historic buildings, areas, and landscapes provide valuable evidence of our social and economic history and contribute to our sense of place.

The Conservation Officers at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council are responsible for a wide range of key functions including processing Listed Building Consent applications, producing Conservation Area Appraisals and Supplementary Planning Guidance, and dealing with pre-application enquiries. We also provide specialist guidance and information on the repair of historic buildings, work to secure the restoration and retention of our Buildings at Risk and seek to raise the profile of the historic environment.

The Borough Council has three Supplementary Planning Guidance notes, on Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas, and Buildings of Local Interest, which set out the aims and policies for the Borough and provides guidelines on the appropriate care and protection of historic buildings and areas.  Further information on these documents can be found on the relevant pages in this section, or are available to download from the Historic Environment Guidance page of this website.

The Basingstoke and Deane Landscape Assessment and Living Landscapes documents both give further information on historic landscapes.  Alternatively, please refer to Hampshire County Council who manage the Hampshire Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Guidance on nationally designated parks and gardens and Scheduled Ancient Monuments can be obtained from English Heritage.

Heritage Protection Reform

Central government and English Heritage are currently working on a comprehensive set of reforms of the heritage protection system for England and Wales.  This will substantially change the legislative and application processes that we have become accustomed with and will hopefully give a smoother and simpler process for all parties.  This is likely to be phased in gradually over the next two to three years, with the main pieces of new legislation expected in 2009/2010.

For further updates on this process please visit the English Heritage or Department for Culture, Media and Sport websites.