The Council’s own policies on heritage, contained within the Bassetlaw Core Strategy and Development Management Policies DPD, emphasise the importance of preserving and enhancing the district’s heritage assets, both designated and non-designated. Government guidance (contained in the National Planning Policy Framework) makes it clear that the effect of a proposal on the significance of a non-designated heritage asset should be taken into account in determining the application. The document below sets out the process through which the District Planning Authority will identify heritage assets, via a set of criteria consistent with Government policy and associated guidance from English Heritage.

In terms of how to use this guidance, as a starting point, the public are advised to contact the District Councils Conservation team prior to any application which they may believe affects a heritage asset.

A heritage asset may comprise a building, structure, historic settlement, archaeological site or landscape/landscape feature. With regard to the criteria used by the Council to identify heritage assets, guidance contained in the National Planning Policy Framework and that published by English Heritage suggests that a heritage asset must have either historic, archaeological, architectural or artistic interest. It must also have a degree of significance, either through its rarity, representativeness, aesthetic appeal, integrity or association with groups or individuals in the past. This draft guidance document clarifies each of the categories of interest and degrees of significance and puts forward a process of heritage asset identification to be used by the District Planning Authority. This guidance will also help members of the public to identify the heritage assets that may be affected by their development proposals, particularly using a form at the end of this document.

Non-Designated Heritage Assets - Criteria (July 2012 update)