ABSTRACT
The British Conservative governments between 1979 and 1997 are usually
associated with a strident agenda of economic liberalism, combined with a
centralisation of political power, which affected land-use planning along
with other policy spheres. However, not only did the conservation of the
historic environment escape these forces, but its policy significance actually
strengthened during this period. In a time associated with the breakdown of
post-war political consensus, conservation policy goals achieved a virtually
unchallenged consensus for the first time. There are a few exceptions to this
success story of the conservation movement: for example, physical relics of
the coal industry were generally removed with unseemly haste following the
pit closures in the wake of the miners’ strike of 1984-5. However, in the main
the period was characterised by a consolidation and strengthening of
conservation policy at a previously unprecedented level.
