Speaker to talk on balancing heritage and growth in Chichester

Chichester was one of the cities which took part in a recent study which focused on public concern that many historic places are being damaged by unsustainable development. The two reports on the study have now been published, entitled Towards a Better Balance between Heritage and Growth. There is the Main Report and the Issues and Options Report. They can be downloaded from this link: htvf.org

The Chichester Society is organising a talk at which the results of the study will be presented by Jan Pahl, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Kent and coordinator of the Alliance of Historic Cathedral Cities and John Walker, Chairman of the Ramsgate Society and member of the Alliance of Historic Cathedral Cities, both of whom were part of the team who carried out the research. The talk will take place on: Thursday 29th June in the Assembly Room in North Street at 2.30pm and residents are welcome to join us.

This research looked at 12 case study towns and cities in England and uniquely brought together the views of civic societies, local planning authority officers and councillors to make recommendations about best practice. While physical characteristics, such as National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, play a major part when much-needed housing is planned in historic settlements such as Chichester, there are many other influences to consider. The study produced recommendations about how heritage and growth can be managed more sensitively.

With ongoing cuts to local authority staffing, many civic societies feel frustrated about influencing the future of historic towns and cities, or excluded from local decision-making. Conservation and planning officers often struggle to prioritise spending time on heritage issues and on protecting heritage, in the context of the pressure from government and developers to build more homes and support growth.

The research was initiated by the Alliance of Historic Cathedral Cities and Towns (ACT) assisted by the Chichester Society and by the Civic Societies in all the towns chosen for study. It was coordinated by the Historic Towns and Villages Forum, which has long championed greater public involvement in heritage, planning and design quality, as well as local authority conservation and planning officers.

The talk is open to everyone who has an interest in these reports. Invitations have been sent to members of Historic England, District Planning Officers, District and City Councillors, and members of the Chichester Conservation Area Advisory Committee.