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Kent County Council has taken an active approach to
initiating schemes to help preserve Kent's heritage.
There have been several schemes launched recently to document
and maintain the heritage of Kent, and to restore and regenerate
historic areas.
Completion of survey and new policy document for Kent's
historic towns
Part-funded by English
Heritage (link opens in a new window), the Heritage
Conservation Group has completed an extensive urban survey of 45 of
Kent's small towns.
This has produced a report and a series of maps for each town
which will be used by planning authorities to help treat the
historic environment more appropriately.
The report and maps are available for viewing at the Heritage
Conservation Group office.
Historic Environment Regeneration Schemes
Kent has a wealth of historic towns but there can be problems in
maintaining old buildings in a good state of repair.
Historic environment regeneration schemes aim to stimulate
repairs to buildings within selected conservation areas through a
programme of grant aid. Funding from English Heritage is matched
locally.
Kent County Council currently contributes, alongside the
districts, to historic environment regeneration schemes in Dover,
Faversham, Gravesend, Herne Bay and the Thanet towns.
Historic Landscape Characterisation
In 1999 Kent County Council commissioned
Oxford
Archaeology (link opens in a new window) to carry out a
historic landscape characterisation survey.
This survey was funded by
English
Heritage (link opens in a new window) as part of their national
programme of assisting local authorities to carry out such
assessments.
The historic landscape characterisation assessment produced both
paper and digital maps.
These are used to enhance the creation of development plans,
structure planning procedures, development control and conservation
activities.
This has established a framework for future historic landscape
assessment and research activities within
Kent. |