Aimée L Felton 2012

45 Chapter Five Statutory and Policy Context for Maintenance Five•One Encouraging maintenance through statutory control FIVE Chapter Five- Statutory and Policy The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act of 1990 had a reactive stance to the approach and care towards fabric of historic buildings. It offered no encouragement, guidance or concern towards maintenance and positively encouraged local authority involvement through negative enforcement once the state of disrepair of a building reached a point of no return. Whilst the existing listed building system in place within the UK contains a series of provisions helping to secure the future of buildings, the financial restraints and fear of acquiring potentially problematic buildings often deters local authorities from using the range of powers at their disposal (Kindred, B. 1992 as cited in Pickard, R. 2001:p303). From urgent repair notices to compulsory purchase orders, it has been repeatedly proven that the threat of such a notice is often the spur that the owners require to take action and prompt repair (ibid. 2001:p304). PPG15, once the ‘go to’ document regarding the historic environment, has been cancelled and replaced by PPS5 (DCMS.2010) intended as a document to produce a clearer and more positive framework for encouraging maintenance within the historic environment.Whilst nothing in the new PPS (DCMS. 2010:p7) changes the existing legal framework for the designation, management or significance of historic buildings and their environment, the new document does acknowledge maintenance, imply duty of care, the need for sustained appropriate change and the continuation of preserving cultural significance. Power of Place (EH. 2000), is still seen as seminal text within the conservation and maintenance sector, with the unbiased approach it took to providing the important consultation exercise of the sector. However, the document Aimee Felton