CONTEXT 188 : JUNE 2026 37 INFRASTRUCTURE The register and the planning system Although it is a statutory list, the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England in itself brings no additional statutory powers. Instead, it works through the development control system to inform the conservation of sites. The 1994 Planning Policy Guidance Note 15 established that registration was a material consideration in determining planning applications, and this has been followed through in planning policy up to the current National Planning Policy Framework, and indeed the reform proposals (published in December 2025). The Gardens Trust continues the statutory consultee role assigned to its predecessor, the Garden History Society, by the government back in 1995, and it made a strong case in the 2025 consultation on statutory consultee reforms that its expertise is much needed. The IHBC also opposed the proposal to drop the Gardens Trust and found the proposed mitigation unnecessarily complex. The listing process for important trees Individual trees or groups in historic parks and gardens are not statutorily protected unless there are specific tree preservation orders, or the designed landscape is part of a conservation area. Although the National Planning Policy Framework does provide some protection for ancient woodland and ancient or veteran trees, many important trees are not protected. These are trees of high social, cultural and environmental value, and include ancient, veteran, heritage, champion and notable trees, and trees that do not fit within these classifications and are highly valued for other reasons. Following the felling of the iconic Sycamore Gap tree and other controversial fellings, Baroness Young introduced a Parliamentary bill in 2023 to promote the protection and stewardship of such trees and to set up a national list. The bill stalled when Parliament was prorogued. The Tree Council and Forest Research were then commissioned by DEFRA to explore how better to protect and manage important trees. One of the key findings is that improved legal protection is needed as current protections such as tree preservation orders are limited. See the Tree Council and Forest Research report for DEFRA Valuing and Protecting Important Trees Outside Woodlands, Tree Council (April 2025). of new towns as well as individual parks, and the post-industrialisation landscape reclamation schemes that are also part of the story of England’s designed landscapes, as in ‘other land’ set out in the Act. While historic parks and gardens can be recognised as non-designated heritage assets, they remain poorly represented in local heritage lists. Section 102 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 introduces an important step forward in protecting registered parks and gardens and their settings, with the introduction of a duty requiring those considering whether to grant planning permission for development to have ‘special regard to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the asset or its setting’, thereby introducing a degree of statutory parity with listed buildings. The provision should further underscore the fact that registration has always been a statutory designation, something that is regularly misunderstood, such as in Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside (www.magic.gov.uk) and Land Registry property charges. Although to date it has not been brought into force, Section 102 must surely also colour Historic England’s approach to registration applications and allocation of resources for the Register of Parks and Gardens. The Register of Parks and Gardens has matured and proven an authoritative resource. It is surely time to review the designation and protection measures for our designed landscape heritage. A consent measure has been mooted before. Many important garden earthworks are scheduled, and these are protected by the scheduled monument consent regime, yet for registered gardens there is no such measure unless proposed changes trigger the need for planning consent. This leaves garden protection in a bit of a paradox, with lost gardens better protected than living ones. Even the trees that define the architectural structure of these gardens are rarely protected. The Gardens Trust would welcome a review of the Register of Parks and Gardens akin to the advice provided in the Saunders report Towards a Strategy for the Future of the National Heritage List for England: listing, a view from the amenity sector (see page 15) ahead of the Register’s 50th anniversary in eight years’ time. See http:// historicengland.org. uk/listing/the-list/ about-the-list/ saunders-report THE LISTING PROCESS IN ENGLAND
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=