In issue 74 we included the above article, which has received the following feedback from our readers:

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As a Conservation Officer in the current economic climate I would wish to support such a proposal. The provision of Local Authority conservation expertise is not a statutory government requirement and the charging of fees for LBC would strenthen the role of Conservation Officers, effectively paying for some of their work.

Our group of Conservation Officers across North Yorkshire feel very vulnerable to cuts in this economic downturn and this proposal could prevent the loss of any further Conservation Officers which are a very valuable source of information and assistance to members of the public, particularly listed building owners. Without such expertise the historic environment, which includes not only buildings, but other structures/monuments, archaeology and landscapes will be seriously under threat from misguided damage, repair and alteration.
CB
North Yorkshire

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I read “your” article on the proposal to charge for LBC in addition on the planning application fees that was not mentioned in the article. I am disappointed that you decided to include the one sided article in full in the newsletter though I note that you said that you would be putting the clubs views in the next newsletter. People who look after listed buildings on behalf of the nation shouldn’t be asked to pay even more. It would be better to not require LBC for changes to items not referred to in the buildings listing – especially in the interior of grade II listed buildings.
RA
Member

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I am a member of the Listed Property Owners Club, having bought a Grade II listed building in a London Borough, in June 2010. I read with interest your December Listed Property News email and read the full story concerning possible future charges for Listed Buildings Consent on the website. If adding a charge for the service means the council is able to staff its department adequately in order to stick to its own time targets then I am all in favour of it.

We registered our Listed Buildings Consent application with our Council at the end of July. It took them until early September to even register the application, but then informed us that we would have their answer within the statutory two-month turnaround period. After the site visit we made all the amendments they had asked for on our plans (we are turning the building back into a family home from two flats) and they informed us we would have their answer by the end of October. Only recently (14 December) did their website finally show that our consent has been approved, and we are still waiting for the paperwork.

We are currently renting while we refurbish the property as we have two small children and are unable to live in the building as it is. The additional two-and-a-half months we have had to wait over the official two-month turnaround of applications has cost us over £3,000 in rent. Even with a significant charge of hundreds of pounds we would have saved money if it had meant the application could be processed on time. We felt helpless waiting for our application to stand in line behind dozens of tree-pruning applications with four tiers of management needing to rubber-stamp the conservation officer’s initial approval of our drawings. If charging is introduced, hopefully it will be accompanied by a more professional attitude that sees deadlines adhered to.
CA
London

Please let us know your thoughts on this by e-mailing info@lpoc.co.uk