Welcome to a short film about the new Historic Environment policy for Scotland.
The policy was launched to the public on the 5th of April 2019 and it will be
formally adopted on the 1st of May when it will replace the current Historic Environment Scotland policy statement.
This new policy has been informed by the ‘What's your Heritage’ campaign
where we asked people how historic places special to them should be recognised, valued, and managed.
This all was achieved by extensive dialogue and consultation with historic environment decision makers across the sector.
The previous policy statement was always intended to be an interim document
put in place when historic environment Scotland was formed in 2015.
The new Strategic Environment Policy responds to feedback from
stakeholders and the public that they want to see a different type of policy to
inform decisions affecting our historic environment.
Through this policy, we can reflect how our historic environment as a whole should be managed and cared for.
It is a strategic policy document for the whole of our historic environment
and is underpinned by detailed policy and guidance.
This should be read alongside the two new HES documents:
the Designated Policy and Selection Guidelines and the Scheduled Monument Consents policy.
As well as the existing management change in historic environment guidance notes -
two brand-new guidance notes have also been published on demolition
and on the use and adaptation of traditional buildings.
Historic Environment Circular - which also contains detailed processes and procedures - is often newly updated.
New policy like its predecessors is non-statutory which means it is not required to be followed as a matter of law;
however, it is relevant to decision-making at national and local levels and should be taken into account
whenever a decision will affect our historic environment.
This could include plans and policies that deal with funding decisions or
estate management or other specific topics such as agriculture or energy.
It's also material consideration for individual planning proposals that
might affect historic environment or require listed building or scheduled monument consent.
The new historic environment policy for Scotland sits alongside Scottish government policies, plans, and strategies.
The new policy document contains six clear policies for Historic Environment that will inform all decision making.
The policy document has been structured to address three main areas –
understanding and recognition, managing change, and working together.
Within each of the areas, there are key policies and core principles.
These set out Historic Environment Scotland's understanding of how our historic
environment should be managed and looked after and explains how they should be applied.
The new policy document identifies a number of challenges and opportunities
that can affect how we understand, manage, and care for our historic environment.
We know that decision-making has to be sufficiently flexible and
adaptable to deal with wide-ranging and ongoing changes in society and environment.
Good decisions will aim to achieve the best possible outcomes for
our historic environment and maximizing the benefits.
We will use the policy in our decision-making and the advice we give to others.
You and other decision-makers for the historic environment will use it in decisions you take and advice you provide.
The historic environment policies launched to the public on the 5th of April
and are now available for you to download, read, and become familiar with.
You should start using all the new policy documents from the first of May
for all work related to the historic environment.
The new Historic Environment Policy for Scotland is a strategic document
that will guide all decision-making for the whole of our historic environment.
It is underpinned by detailed policy and guidance
and should be read alongside these documents as the support beams of the new policy
which relationships published planning policies unchanged from a lot of earlier policies.
It'll come into play on the first of May after which the
the Historic Environment Scotland Policy Statement will no longer be used.
For further information and downloadable versions of all the documents mentioned in this tutorial,
please visit the Historic Environment Scotland website.
Thank you to everyone that's contributed to the new Historic Environment Policy for Scotland
and has been part of shaping the future of how we all look after our special sites and places.