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Local List

The Local List is a heritage-led scheme to allow communities and members of the public to formally identify buildings and structures of local significance to the historic environment. It is designed to recognise the importance of a sense of place as valued by a local community where buildings and structures do not meet the requirement for national listing.

The purpose of the list is to provide additional strength to the historic environment, to reinforce a sense of place and local distinctiveness and to support communities in creating plans for the future of their community.

If you know a building or structure in your local area that has the potential to be included, please nominate it by clicking on the nomination form and following the steps.

For any queries regarding the process or document the nomination form (21 KB) , please see the Frequently Asked Questions or contact us on:

hThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01386 565565 and ask for a member of the Heritage Team.

When we have received and processed nominations, consultation reports for those nominations will be available to view.

Local List Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What can be nominated?

Nominations are restricted to physical structures. Below is a list examples of what does and does not meet the criteria, however, this is not an exhaustive list and structures suitable for nomination may not be included on it:

  • Sculptures
  • Lampposts
  • Signs
  • Post boxes and telephone boxes
  • Fountains, troughs, drinking fountains and similar structures (there would be no control or maintenance of the water within)
  • Buildings
  • Bridges
  • Towers
  • Gas outlet pipes
  • Landscape and garden features, such as garden buildings and functional buildings and structures, monuments and planned seated areas
  • Follies
  • Tombs and headstones
  • Milestones
  • Bus Shelters

We would advise that nominations do not include the following:

  • Views
  • Plants
  • Trees
  • Waterways (canal structures, such as lock gates, bridges and buildings are suitable for nomination)
  • Agricultural land
  • Village greens and town parks (a physical structure within these such as bandstands, memorials or walls and other similar structures would be suitable)
  • Rivers

If there is additional advice you may seek about protecting land, trees and waterways please see the following:

Can trees and orchards be included in the Local List?

Trees with significant public amenity value may already be protected by Tree Preservation Order (TPO) and Conservation Area designation, both of which offer stronger protection than local listing. Registered Parks and Gardens and designed landscapes often include significant trees, please see the section on Registered Parks and Gardens within the Local List Supplementary Planning Document.

Guidance on how historic orchards could be more suitably protected, including positive management, can be found via schemes such as:

TPOs are also a more suitable way of protecting individual and groups of trees. For further advice and guidance on the process please see the following guidance and contact information:

  • Read Tree Preservation Orders and trees in conservation areas on GOV.UK
  • Wychavon District Council:
    • Tree and Landscape Officer: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and on 01386 565308
  • Malvern Hills District Council:
    • Tree and Landscape Officer: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and on 01386 565177

Where there is no address for a building or other asset, what should be included in this section of the form?

Alternative identification methods include an Ordnance Survey Grid Reference, physical identification through marking up a site plan or addresses of the nearest building from which the site can be identified. Please be aware the Council will only be able to view these structures from public spaces until access can be provided by an owner. Therefore, any means of identification must relate to that which can be viewed from a public place.

What should I do if the asset doesn't fit directly into the nomination criteria?

Where assets don't fit directly into the nomination criteria, you can state the reasons as to why it is considered significant. This may help to identify what criteria it may fit into.

Are buildings automatically included?

No, all buildings must go through the nomination process or be assessed by the Council prior to inclusion to ensure the significance of the list and assets is maintained.

Is the setting of Heritage Assets protected?

As the protection of locally listed heritage assets is through the planning system, their setting is already considered. The weight given to the setting of an asset is assessed differently for non-designated and designated assets.

Do Wychavon and Malvern Hills District Council have different approaches to local listing?

Everything included on this page is relevant to both authorities.

Have any buildings been assessed prior to the adoption of the document?

No buildings have been formally assessed prior to the adoption, we are aware that buildings and structures included on the first edition of the O.S. map, and still remain as outlines or features today, are in need of assessment for potential inclusion. Furthermore, heritage assets considered important and highlighted within conservation area appraisals and Neighbourhood Plans are also in need of assessment for potential inclusion.

Does the Local List replace the Historic Environment Record or is it more important than the Historic Environment Record?

The Historic Environment Record (HER) is still considered an invaluable resource and the Local List is a separate process and means of raising awareness of these buildings or structures that may have already been highlighted as locally significant from records within the HER. Where a building does not appear to be included on the local list, it does not mean it does not have the potential to be included in the future. The records included within the HER are vast and therefore the ability within the Councils to include all these assets in one nomination is minimal. The HER should, and will, be utilised as part of the assessment of the historic environment and potential and nominated assets. It is advised that members of the public utilise this resource at any stage of the nomination and planning processes.

Is there any funding available for assets included on the Local List?

At present the Councils do not have funding available for heritage assets and it is understood that Historic England are in a similar position. Further consideration could be given to this in the future, however, grants for the maintenance of private homes and individual buildings are currently unavailable.

Can buildings be removed from the List?

Yes, where buildings no longer meet the criteria utilised for the original adoption, they may be removed from the Local List. This would be carried out as part of a periodic review and revision of the list.

Will the Local List promote and accommodate the Climate Change agenda?

The document is not designed to directly promote and meet the requirements of a climate change agenda as we cannot prescribe the use of materials or products considered to meet the agenda. However, the document will meet the Councils’ policies on this matter and will positively consider proposed alterations and materials that support a reduction of an assets impact on climate change. Whilst it is understood that climate change is a threat which can pose a risk to heritage assets, the nomination criteria are set, although the parameters are flexible. Assets still need to meet these criteria to be included on the list.

For further information on the Council’s climate agenda please read Destination Zero.

Can an asset be included on the list if it is already statutorily designated (Grade I, Grade II* or Grade II)?

It is not advised to nominate an asset if it is already included within the national list of buildings. The legislation for the nationally listed buildings is stronger and provides a more detailed and more enforceable level of protection. Therefore, the additional inclusion will not provide any more weight to the protection of the asset.

Can people object to the inclusion of an asset on the list?

Yes, members of the public are consulted, with the opportunity to provide comments, on the nomination and potential inclusion of an asset. The Councils consider it suitable to then propose the nominated assets to Planning Committee at the respective Councils for confirmation before final inclusion.

Is the nominee responsible for the care and maintenance of an asset?

No, the nomination process does not transfer responsibility to the nominee. Maintenance remains the responsibility of the owner of the asset. There is currently no weight under the designation to enforce maintenance of an asset.

Can archaeology be included in the Local List?

Yes, archaeology does meet the criteria for nomination to the Local List. Finds, such as pottery, personal belongings or food remains, and human or animal remains are better recorded via the Historic Environment Record and they, unfortunately, do not meet the criteria for the Local List. Monument sites, where evidence of structures is discovered, meet the criteria for the lists; their nomination can be supported by any finds in the vicinity which increase the historical and social interest of the nominated archaeological monument.

Archaeological landscapes, including:

  • Neolithic and Bronze Age ritual sites
  • Iron Age Hillforts
  • Roman roads
  • Saxon villages
  • Deer parks
  • Field systems
  • Enclosure evidence
  • Town expansion
  • World War One and Two landscape features

Archaeological landscape features, including:

  • Cropmarks
  • Ridge and furrows

These should be treated in the same manner as registered parks and gardens and historic landscapes as discussed in the Local List Supplementary Planning Document. For more information on archaeology please contact the Archaeology and Planning Advisor: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.