Swale's Heritage Strategy

The government’s national planning policy guidance, as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework  (NPPF), (PDF 594kb) requires all local planning authorities as part of the development plan making process to set out a positive strategy for the conservation and enjoyment of the historic environment, including heritage assets most at risk through neglect, decay or other threats (paragraph 185 of the NPPF).

Following on the Heritage Asset Review (PDF 4.40MB) work carried out in 2015 in support of the Local Plan Review process, the Council has developed a borough-wide heritage strategy to help it, along with key stakeholders and other interested parties, to protect and manage the historic environment in Swale in a positive and sustainable way , on a suitably informed basis.

A key element of the strategy is the setting out of the Council’s overall vision and set of priorities, which following extensive public consultation in late 2019 and early 2020, it has sought to align with the vision and priorities of local communities and local amenity societies as far as possible, in order that the strategy can be widely supported.

The strategy sets out a series of proposals in the associated initial 3 year action plan which are aimed at enabling the positive and sustainable management of different elements of the borough’s historic environment for the foreseeable future. Priority is given to those parts of the borough’s historic environment which are already suffering from, and at risk from negative change, and/or which face significant development pressure, threatening their special character. For more information on heritage-at-risk issues in the Borough, please visit our separate Swale’s Heritage at Risk web page.

The proposed set of actions will involve joint project working with amenity societies and/or volunteers from the community wherever this is possible.

You can download Swale's Heritage Strategy and its appendices.