Conservation management plans, assessments of signficance, design and access statements (DASs) and heritage impact assessments are a major part of most large conservation projects. They should be planned at the outset and used to inform the project and design development. 'Significance' is a concept increasingly used in the conservatin and heritage world. It does not only encompass the architectural and historic importance of a site, but a wide range of other values as well.

Good conservation management recognises the signifiance of the elements of a site, identifying what is important, putting in place policies to protect it, and identifying the parts of the site which may accept change.

In addition to experience in conservation management planning, I have carried out research for the Heritage Lottery Fund into the conservation outcomes of grant funding.

I chair the The Heritage Alliance Spatial Planning Advocacy Gorup, and in 2011 I was its parliamentary adviser on the heritage aspects of the Localism Bill and the National Planning Policy Framework. The Alliance is a policy coalation of over 90 heritage bodies including the National Trust, CPRE, Civic Voice, and professional bodies such as the RICS Building Conservation Forum and the IHBC.