Groups get together to discuss how they will work together to protect Perth’s historic environment

May 15 2009 by Our Correspondent, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

IMPROVEMENTS to the management of Perthshire’s historic environment and the relationship between Historic Scotland and Perth and Kinross Council were key topics discussed at Perth Civic Trust’s AGM on Tuesday.

John Graham, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland, attended the event to discuss the role of the agency and its engagement process with the local authority and other community groups in how best to manage the local historic environment.

Mr Graham said: “I’m delighted to have been invited to the AGM. It gives me the opportunity to talk about the modernisation projects at Historic Scotland and how these aim to improve and streamline our involvement with the local authority and groups, general public and local businesses.

“I explained to the meeting the steps the Scottish Government is taking to explore giving councils more discretion over changes to listed buildings.

“Historic Scotland recently piloted a delegation of decisions on minor works to B-listed buildings Perth and Kinross Council, along with the councils for the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

“The pilot meant a removal of the need to notify Historic Scotland of cases the council were content to approve. This allowed local knowledge and expertise to manage certain applications quickly.

“The Scottish Government will shortly be publishing a report on the pilots and inviting views on whether this type of delegation should be more widely available, as part of the broader programme of streamlining and localising the planning process across the country.”

Mr Graham also answered questions.