Residents across the whole of Dorset will now be able to nominate locally important buildings, structures, designed landscapes, sites and places to be considered on new Local Heritage Lists.
The idea is to make it easy for everyone to nominate and celebrate the heritage that is important to their local area. Dorset’s economy relies on the historic towns, seaside resorts, villages, and landscapes to draw hundreds of thousands of tourists every year – this heritage is a big part of what makes our county so special.
This is a joint project between Dorset Council and BCP Council using a grant of £70,000, from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
The Local Heritage Lists will provide a free publicly accessible record of non-designated heritage assets, whose conservation will then be a material consideration in planning decisions.
Land Use Consultants (LUC), working on behalf of the councils, will consider the public nominations using a set of criteria to create a baseline Local Heritage List for each authority. These will be regularly updated with new additions in the future, with the records of all assets being added to Dorset’s Historic Environment Record.
Cllr David Walsh, Dorset Council’s Portfolio holder for Planning, said:
“It is very important that we help to promote and protect local heritage and forge stronger connections between people and their local areas.
“And no one knows the area better than local people, so it is vital that everyone is able to add to our Local Heritage List.”
Councillor Beverley Dunlop, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Vibrant Places commented:
“This is a significant project that looks at identifying and preserving our local heritage by asking the very people who know our towns and villages the best to get involved and nominate sites for consideration.
“I encourage everyone to nominate the local heritage they love and wish to be preserved in their local areas.”
Find out more information about submitting a nomination, the assessment criteria and examples visit:
Nominations are open for eight weeks.
I would like to nominate All of The AONB in Dorset to be preserved & protected with highest protection & conservation available I would like Dorset council to pursue National Park status for our county & to not give up until the highest protection is achieved
Hi Yaniola – the AONB already has protection. This list is to protect items that are important to the community and don’t already have protection. Any submission need to be added to the online form at https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/how-to-nominate-an-asset-for-the-local-list. Items mentioned in this comments thread will not be included. Fiona
Perhaps DC/BCP do not wish to be reminded that the AONB is important to us as they would like a dual carriageway to the seaside?
Lynne – we are very proud of the two areas of AONB that we have in Dorset and wish to protect them. But they are already covered by protections higher than being mentioned on this list. The heritahge lists are for structures or places that don’t benefit from protection that you consider of significant importance.
Please tell your officers that the AONBs are not to have more traffic encouraged into them. Someone has been pushing for the A350 at regional and national level (DfT and Deputy Minister) hence the study (yet more wasted, time, energy and money) and the recent ‘consultation’ by NH. It’s no good saying that you are proud of the AONBs if officers in other departments are working on ways to desecrate them bit by bit, especially as all the bodies set up to protect them have been decimated by GVT cuts.
Hi Lynne – We are the local authority so we aren’t able to affect the work of national Government’s departments. Fiona
I would suggest that the £70,000 levelling up fund be used not to add yet more sites that need attention, but to engage solicitors to enforce the terms of statutory listing with negligent owners. We are told that both the brewery buildings and Maiden Street Methodist church in Weymouth are listed but the sites are just left to deteriorate further without even made water tight. I think people in Weymouth have already made their feelings known – we do not need another list.
So true. The present heritage sites should be monitored before adding to the list.
I live in a listed building so see the problems & expense. There is also the climate crisis to consider not add buildings which will then not be able to insulate effectively.
Shaftesbury has 16 War Memorials, Gold Hill, two important view points and a stone age fort along with many other gems, it is also a key draw for the tourist economy, it has suffered for some years now regarding uncontrolled residential development leaving the promised infrastructure far behind. It is vital that this Town is held up as a ‘Rural Town’ and action taken to preserve and restore it to its former glory, extending the AONB would help this process.
Hi Lester – you will need to fill in the nomination form. Any suggestions mentioned on this comments thread will not be included.Fiona
Shillingstone has three items that need to be preserved and maintained. They are doing well at present but should be looked after. Shillingstone Station is maintained by the Railway Trust, The North Dorset Trailway is a much used and loved part of the area linked to the Station. Finally the Church is a grade 1 listed building that needs to be kept in good repair with its church yard and letter from the king calling it the bravest village in England after the First World War.