As one of our seven areas of expertise, our heritage team advises clients on three core aspects:

  • Historic buildings and areas
  • Archaeology
  • The setting of heritage assets

So, this month we’re shining a light on our fantastic heritage team, in particular our Senior Directors Laura Garcia (in Leeds) and Alex Robinson (in Cirencester).

Can you give us a whistlestop summary of the type of work your team undertakes?

Laura:

In general, the bulk of our time is spent assessing and advising on development proposals prior to determination, though of course we also help to discharge those all-important pre-commencement conditions. We also do a large amount of appeal work, helping clients where the initial application has not gone their way.

In terms of scale, we’ll do everything from Mrs Higgin’s new windows to a DCO scheme for a thousand-hectare solar scheme. But scale can be deceptive.  Often, it’s the smallest schemes that require the most intricate historic assessment work.

How many are in the team and where are you based?

Laura:

We’ve had four new team members join us since the summer – welcome to Sandia, Joe, Jon and Jamie! – bringing us to 18 in total, and we’re spread across the whole of England and Scotland and work in all the devolved nations.

Heritage matters crop up in every sector and need some level of consideration on almost every development proposal. That means we’re highly mobile, advising on sites from Southampton to Stirling.

Do you take on new graduates?

Alex:

Yes, we’ve had two colleagues complete the grad scheme in the past year, and our latest recruit, Sandia, is in this year’s intake. We take care to integrate them completely and they’ve all progressed within the team structure.

Our work is ever-expanding so we’re looking to develop and grow the team further.

What are the team’s particular areas of expertise?

Alex:

The team comes from a variety of backgrounds, and many are dual-qualified and are members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) and the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) as well as the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). We all have different interests and areas of expertise, from historic parks and gardens, to country houses, to military sites. It gives us an authoritative, broad base from which to advise clients, whatever the site-specifics.

And what about you two, personally?

Laura:

I started out as a field archaeologist then went into consultancy very early on. My main areas of knowledge encompass setting, scheduled ancient monuments, registered parks and gardens and battlefields.

I’m also part of the panel which conducts the professional review interviews for membership to the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists to assess ethical competence.

Alex:

I’m a chartered planner who has gradually moved into advising on heritage matters. I became dual qualified in 2012, having completed a post-graduate certificate in historic conservation and became a full member of the IHBC in 2013. My main area of focus is on built heritage, assessing the significance of listed, or other historic buildings and advising on potential impact.

Where do you see your team’s strengths lie?

Laura:

We pride ourselves in being robust at every stage, with a strong knowledge base in policy, recent judgments and appeals so we can best help our clients. Our Executive Director, Gail Stoten is one of the top names in the industry when it comes to being an expert witness at Public Inquiries.

We give clients robust and defendable advice, always working hard to find solutions to enable them to realise the development potential of a site.

Alex:

As a big team we’ve got the expertise to deploy when we need to. Whether it’s post-war buildings, military buildings, big country houses or commercial schemes, we select the right team member for the job.

We’re problem solvers and thrive off finding our way through objections to get to a good solution. Quite often we’re brought in when there’s already been an objection – in fact I think about 75% of my instructions are on projects that have become stuck and need us work through objections or concerns from various stakeholders or consultees. If we’re brought in at the outset we can set the right strategy and work collaboratively with all parties to make the whole process smoother.

Where are you seeing the most project work in at the moment?

Laura:

Scotland’s recently adopted National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) has been a game changer in respect of climate change, and we’re now seeing a huge increase in renewable energy projects in Scotland.

In September, we witnessed the signing of the Onshore Wind Sector Deal at the Onshore Wind Conference 2023, and the Scottish government has pledged to generate 20GW through onshore wind by 2030. It’s an ambitious pledge; essentially requiring the same total amount that’s been built to date, to be built again, in the next eight years.

Interestingly, while NPF4 makes a strong push for climate action, the heritage policies themselves haven’t changed much, causing issues for many proposed schemes. We work closely with landscape teams, both ours and external professionals, on proposed applications to ensure that applications for wind energy developments are robust.

Find out more about our Heritage services.