The National Planning Policy, which incorporates England’s national heritage policy, requires that when considering the impact of a proposed development on the significance of a designated heritage asset, great weight should be given to the asset’s conservation.  By implication, it identifies four levels of harm that may be caused to the significance of heritage assets: total loss (this is often overlooked but is written in to the NPPF’s Paragraph 193), substantial harm, less than substantial harm, and no harm.  The course would explore the meaning and implications of this and of recent case law.

Presentations outlining the background and main issues will be followed by an open discussion session with the course directors and other participants. The course will be delivered online via Microsoft Teams from 10.00 am to 12 noon UK time on Thursday 29 April 2021.

The course will be of particular interest to heritage asset managers and advisers, planners, historic environment professionals and architects, surveyors and others who do not specialise in heritage but may need to understand the concept of harm when managing change.