Governance of conservation area boundaries: agents and agencies in decision making

Abstract

Conservation areas are a very common and popular planning tool, used by every UK local planning authority; but the basis on which related decisions are made often remains obscure, and so is the changing pattern of the conservation-related decision-making framework in British local governments. This paper provides an example of the changes in the decision-making framework for conservation area boundaries from the 1970s to the 2010s, using Cardiff, Wales as a case study. It sheds light on the governance documents of the local planning authority and reflects on the parts played by different types of planning-related agencies. Based on this example of the relationship between governance, decision-making, conservation and regeneration, this paper is able to examine the relationship between regeneration and conservation in a typical British city under the power of the New Right and New Labour.