Council takes major step in implementing the Heritage Strategy

There has been a major step forward in the Council’s adoption of the JUHS Heritage Strategy. The Council’s Strategy and Resources Policy Committee – the senior committee that includes the chairs of the other policy committees and has responsibility for cross-cutting issues such as heritage – formally adopted the Strategy and added it to their work programme at their meeting on 21st February. Officers had recommended this in their report and also outlined the priorities, and were supported by JUHS and the Heritage Partnership Board.

The committee also accepted the recommendation to explore how to fund and create a Heritage Officer role at the Council. This would give us an officer within the Council advocating for heritage and helping their colleagues to recognise how their work impacts and benefits from heritage. They could lead actions within the Heritage Strategy such as improving educational use of heritage, finding evidence for health and wellbeing benefits and marketing the city’s heritage better.

The full Council resolution on the Heritage Strategy last year and the work preparing it for the committee has already supported several positive changes:

• Resources and funding for the Local Heritage List and a proposals for greater protection.
• Planning are hoping to engage second Conservation Officer.
• Funding to update Conservation Area appraisals.
• The Council Plan 2024-2028 has been updated since its first draft to give more prominence to heritage and acknowledge the importance of heritage to big projects such as the Station area and Attercliffe Waterside.

When JUHS was formed eight years ago it was hard to imagine that any of these things would happen. We are really grateful to officers, members of Heritage Partnership Board and Councillors for all their hard work, advocacy and support.