“Contested heritage” and listing statues: new proposals from MHCLG

On Sunday, in a press release entitled New legal protection for England’s heritage, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced what he described as “new laws to protect England’s cultural and historic heritage”. His bullet-point proposals are these:

  • New legal safeguards introduced for historic monuments at risk of removal.
  • All historic statues, plaques and other monuments will now require full planning permission to remove, ensuring due process and local consultation in every case.
  • The law will make clear that historic monuments should be retained and explained.

The press release quotes him as follows: Continue reading