ABSTRACT
The responsibility for the management of much of Britain’s historic environment lies in the hands of the nation’s numerous local authorities; on one hand they administer the planning system whilst on the other they own large expanses of land containing archaeological sites along with museums and thousands of historic buildings. The last 10 years have seen significant changes in the landscape of local government which has impacted on their management of the historic environment. This is both in terms of changes in planning policy with the move from Planning Policy Guides 15 & 16 to 2010’s Planning Policy Statement to 2012/2018’s National Planning Policy Frameworks, but also in the pressures brought by declining government funding and the quest for associated efficiencies. This paper will draw on the personal experiences of myself and historic environment colleagues, principally in the West Midlands region, over the past decade to look at what has changed and what maybe the opportunities and threats to the future management of the historic environment in local government.
