REVIT Heritage Report.pdf

Torfaen County Borough Council
REVIT: A Review of the Conservation of Industrial Heritage Assets on Brownfield Sites
3.7.15 The main cultural heritage legislation is provided by the Historic Monuments
Act of 1913; the Act of 1941 regulating archaeological excavations; and the Act
of 1983 which decentralised certain planning and heritage functions and
transferred Town Planning and development to the communes.
3.7.16 The Archaeological Excavations Act (Act of 1941) makes archaeological
excavations subject to state supervision and requires a permission to proceed
with archaeological excavation.
3.7.17 The Historic Monuments Act of 1913 provides protection of the cultural
heritage at two levels:
3.7.18 Listed buildings are protected as those buildings whose conservation is in the
public interest, from a historic or artistic point of view, as well megalithic
monuments and land which encloses prehistoric settlements or deposits. Such
sites are listed on the recommendation of Historic Monuments Board
(Commission supérieure des monuments historiques or CSMH); and
3.7.19 Supplementary Inventory protects historic buildings and monuments which are
of sufficient artistic or historical interest to justify their preservation. They are
proposed by the Regional Heritage and Sites Board (CRPS).
3.7.20 An Act of 1943 introduced the concept of the "setting" of a listed monument,
defined as a 500 m radius around the monument. Once a building has been
listed or included in the Supplementary Inventory all property, whether
developed or not, the setting within a 500m radius of the monument and within
sight of the monument is protected. Any building situated in the surroundings
of a historic monument and in its field of view is deemed to be included in the
supplementary inventory.
3.7.21 A large part of France's rural heritage is in fact protected by the Supplementary
Inventory; this protection is weak but has been effective in protecting villages
and rural buildings. The weakness of the protection is supplemented by Urban
Landscape Heritage Protection Zones (Zones de protection du patrimoine
architectural, urbain et paysager or ZPPAUP) which are considered useful for
protecting the heritage in rural areas.
3.7.22 Under the decentralisation Act of 1983 each commune can replace the fixed
500m protection of with an Urban Heritage Protection Zone (ZPPAUP) which is
decided jointly by the commune and the state. Each ZPPAUP may take in the
distinctive urban, archaeological, architectural and landscape features of one
or more communes. These zones have made the rules governing the areas
surrounding historical monuments more flexible, strengthened the protection of
the urban and rural heritage and given communes an active role in managing
and enhancing their heritage.
3.7.23 A further Act of 1962 instituted the protection of conservation areas called
areas of Safeguarded Sectors and Development (Plan de sauvegarde et de
mise en valeur - PSMV), which are areas which have "a historical or aesthetic
character likely to justify the conservation, restoration and development of
whole or part of the whole of buildings”.
3.7.24 The PSMV lays down design guidance for development proposals of every
building and area within the zone e.g conservation, demolition, reconstruction,
and protection of yards and gardens. The PSMV supersedes other Land Use
Plans and any other town-planning documents in the area concerned. The
PSMV, therefore, constitutes both a conservation area and acts as a town
planning document.
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