11th November 2008, 02:04 PM
Of course opinions on this depend heavily on whether you view the HPB as an essential improvement or just as the emperor's new clothes. Funny how there is no Scottish equivalent. Also, the really key areas of improvement are in relation to the built environment with the exception of statutory HERs. The really important stuff could have been brought in without a entirely new bill and the new designations and their administration will probably bring about more confusion with a public who have had over 50 years to get used to listed buildings and scheduled monuments only to have them replaced by Heritage Assets. I'm also not sure why handing the consents regime for nationally important archaeological sites to local authorities is seen as a good thing. I notice that EH / DCMS are retaining the designatory power. This is just a case of them washing their hands of all that time consuming management guff. Are the inspectors and field monument wardens going to be put on notice as surplus to requirements?