Casework

The historic and cultural significance of designed landscapes can be easily undermined. The Gardens Trust is consulted about changes that might affect registered historic parks and gardens. Our role and how we manage casework is explained below.

Changes that may harm historic parks and gardens

As well as works and developments that require planning consent, there are a host of other changes that can affect the historic character or fabric of historic parks and gardens.

Examples include:

• the construction, alterations or extension, or demolition of buildings or structures and earthworks
• new developments affecting the setting of a site or its’ views and vistas
• new roads, entrances and approaches, car parking and changes to historic surfacings
• minor changes normally permitted under development rights such as walls and fences
• neglect or mismanagement, and loss of expertise and skills such as professional gardeners
• divided ownerships
• land management and business changes such as new visitor facilities and attractions, farming and husbandry, creation of new wildlife habitats and rewilding in sensitive locations
• changes in grant schemes and other government fiscal incentives
• felling or damage to trees, and inappropriate new tree and woodland planting
• dam repairs and silting up of lakes and water bodies, decline in water quality and other hydrological changes
• changes in sensory qualities such as noise and smells
• pollutants
• pests such as insects, grey squirrels, deer, and invasive plants, and plant and tree diseases
• climate change events such as storms and floods, and maladaptation measures

Understanding garden and park designs

To advise on the impact of any changes, it is essential to understand the garden and park design and its dynamics and features.

Designs often use the landform and the garden’s wider setting and respond to the local environment and aspect. They include axial features such as views and vistas, buildings, follies and landmarks, and avenues for orientation and drama, and spatial features such as lawns and expanses of water to emphasise scale, and a network of paths and drives to explore. The structure of the designed landscape is often defined by the carefully sited trees and shrubs planted to frame or guide views and experiences from boundary woodlands to clumps of trees, hedges and individual feature trees. The tradition of management, including flower borders, is part of their character and historic interest too. Woven into this complex matrix are wildlife habitats with old trees, fruit trees, and woodlands, open water and grasslands, some of which are UK priority habitats and important in nature recovery. 

In many historic gardens and parks, you will find designs within designs, and sometimes designs added over several centuries.

Our advisory casework

As the only expert non-government body in England, the Gardens Trust, with support of the County Gardens Trusts, advises on:

• Planning applications and nationally significant infrastructure projects – For planning purposes historic parks, gardens and landscapes are heritage assets whether designated or not (see National Planning Policy Framework).

  We are a statutory consultee on all planning applications and nationally significant infrastructure projects that may affect sites included in the national Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. The role of the Gardens Trust and other statutory consultees is to ensure the local planning authority or Planning Inspectorate has the appropriate expert advice in order to make decisions about applications or projects.

  Our Guidance for Local Planning Authorities provides more information.

• Local Plans – The National Planning Policy Framework (paragraph 196) requires that plans should set out ‘a positive strategy for the conservation and enjoyment of the historic environment, including heritage assets most at risk through neglect, decay or other threats’. We endeavour to ensure local plans include appropriate policies to protect and conserve our historic parks, gardens and designed landscape heritage.
• Local Heritage Lists and Historic Environment Records – The County Gardens Trusts are keen to share their research and contribute to Local Heritage Lists and Historic Environment Records maintained by each local planning authority.
• National policy and guidance – We respond to Government and similar national consultations relevant to the conservation and long-term sustainability of historic gardens, parks and designed landscapes.
• Tree planting and felling schemes – Ensuring the succession of the tree structure is essential in the conservation of historic parks and gardens. However, misguided tree and woodland planting, even choice of tree species, can unintentionally disrupt or obscure historic landscape designs and harm fragile habitats such as ancient trees and wood pasture.

  To help inform new schemes and further the UK’s tree planting target, the Gardens Trust welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the Forestry Commission’s 2024 guidance which explains how to consider the historic sites when developing and implementing forestry projects in England.

  Although forestry is not covered by the planning system, some operations like new tracks could require consent. In addition, the updated UK Forestry Standard requires that ‘forests should be designed and managed in consultation with statutory bodies to take account of landscape designations, designed landscapes, historic landscapes and the various policies and strategies that apply’.

• Nature recovery, climate change adaptation and green infrastructure – Creating and improving habitats is now mandatory in new developments. It is called Biodiversity Net Gain. Historic parks and gardens are often important wildlife habitats and there maybe scope through Biodiversity Net Gain to restore aspects of these sites. Care must be taken that well-intended Biodiversity Net Gain does not undermine the historic and cultural significance of parks, gardens and other landscapes.  We seek to work with others to identify best approaches for each site.

  We are very much engaged in the long-term conservation of historic parks and gardens as climate change intensifies and we will be developing guidance. However, each park or garden is unique and the climate change issues, possible solutions, and timescales for action will be different. Interventions need to be carefully planned and designed to protect the significance of historic parks and garden.

  In the nation’s green infrastructure network, historic green spaces, and in particular urban features such as public parks and cemeteries are often the largest assets. They often have multifunctional roles in making towns and cities liveable. There is scope to improve the green infrastructure functionality of these special places through restoration and better management. We endeavour to help ensure schemes such as tree planting or drainage are not detrimental.

Planning applications and consultations

As set out in government guidance, local planning authorities and the Planning Inspectorate must consult the Gardens Trust in relation to all planning applications and nationally significant infrastructure projects that may affect historic designed landscapes on the national Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. The Gardens Trust, and formerly the Garden History Society, has been a statutory consultee since 1995.

Consulting the Gardens Trust

All planning applications and consents, and national infrastructure project consultations affecting designated heritage assets such as listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered parks and gardens are collated centrally by the Joint Committee of National Amenity Societies and forwarded to the relevant organisation such as the Gardens Trust.

All applications should be sent to: casework@jcnas.org.uk

Our assessment process and comments

The consultations are assessed by our professional Conservation Team. They consider the significance of the park and garden and how it and its’ views and settings are affected by the proposed development, and whether the applicant has sufficiently addressed potential impacts.

We adhere to the local planning authority’s deadlines for submissions or will formally seek an extension if needed and explain the reason for the delay.

The Gardens Trust returns its’ advice to the local planning authority. It will set out our view about the degree of harm and related issues. The County Gardens Trusts may also submit statutory consultee comments in partnership with the Gardens Trust Conservation Team. Independent of the Gardens Trust, they may also send their own independent submission as a non-statutory consultee. The joint Gardens Trust-County Gardens Trust submissions will clearly state they are statutory consultee status.

The Gardens Trust also collaborates with the relevant national amenity societies if proposals affect more than one heritage asset. For example, development affecting a 19^th century cemetery may require advice from both the Gardens Trust and the Victorian Society or changes to a 18^th century landscape park may also affect the setting of a listed Georgian building.

Follow our advisory work

Applications received by the Gardens Trust and the other national amenity societies and comments submitted can be viewed via the JCNAS planning casework database.

For ease of reference, we also publish a separate weekly lists of consultations relating to registered parks and gardens.

Queries

If you have any queries please contact our Conservation Team email: consult@thegardenstrust.org

Consultations relating to non-registered sites

The Gardens Trust receives some consultations relating to sites which are not included on the Register. In some cases, it will be possible for us to provide advice. In other cases, the relevant County Garden Trust may be able to help.