ABSTRACT
In many industrialised countries, as Chapter 2 suggested, a first phase of conservation legislation was concerned merely with identifying and listing monuments (and sometimes buildings). This was generally succeeded by a more sophisticated phase, concerned with the delineation and protection of wider areas. Over time, the workings of this second phase have become increasingly widely criticised: it is suggested that attention and resources are not targeted sufficiently sharply; too many areas are designated and for the wrong reasons; and perceived socio-economic disbenefits may outweigh generalised societal benefits. Yet area conservation remains popular. In England it is suggested that public support for this planning policy is second only to Green Belts. It is also a form of conservation activity in which the LPA can be seen to be proactive, a ‘direct agent’ in its shaping and guiding of change through planning policy, guidance, specialist advice and grant availability, and in the formulating and implementing of enhancement schemes. This is significant, given the depiction of LPAs elsewhere in this volume as being largely ‘indirect agents’ in their reactions to individual planning proposals. The proactive and reactive roles are combined within conservation areas, perhaps to a greater extent than elsewhere.
