In England and Wales, an amenity society is an organisation which monitors planning and development.

National societies

National amenity societies preserve historic art and architecture and operate at a national level. In England, the six principal societies, known formally as the National Amenity Societies, are statutory consultees on alterations to

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s, and by law must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. These societies are: *The

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the Victorian restoration, destructive 'restoration' of ancient bu ...

*The Ancient Monuments Society, since 2021 operating under the working name Historic Buildings & Places *The

Council for British Archaeology The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is an educational charity established in 1944 in the UK. It works to involve people in archaeology and to promote the appreciation and care of the historic environment for the benefit of present and fut ...

*The Georgian Group, concerned with buildings and planned landscapes dating from between 1700 and 1840 *The

Victorian Society The Victorian Society is a UK charity and amenity society that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. As a statutory consultee, by l ...

, concerned with buildings built from 1837 to 1914 (also covering Edwardian architecture) *The Twentieth Century Society, concerned with buildings dating from 1914 onwards The six societies meet several times a year as the Joint Committee of the National Amenity Societies. A database of their casework is provided by the Council for British Archaeology on behalf of the committee. In addition to the above, the Garden History Society is a statutory consultee in relation to planning proposals likely to affect registered historic parks and gardens. Details of the arrangements for handling heritage-related applications are laid out from time to time by the relevant Secretary of State, most recently by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government in 2021.

Local amenity societies

Many civic societies in England and Wales comment non-statutorily on planning and historic building matters within their localities, or within a particular conservation area. Some are formally recognised by the local planning authority; for example,

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2022. Full council meetings ...

maintains a list of recognised consultees which includes the Soho Society and other residents' associations. Some also operate as preservation trusts; for example, Wisbech Society is recognised by Fenland District Council as a planning consultee.

References

Town and country planning in England Town and country planning in Wales Organisations based in England {{England-org-stub

National societies

Local amenity societies

See also

References