Conservation Area
In 1968, following the Civic Amenities Act of 1967, a town centre appraisal plan was prepared by the County Council from which there followed, in 1969, the designation of the Harpenden Conservation Area which originally included most of the town centre together with The Common and Hatching Green.
The 1969 Harpenden Conservation Area excluded many areas of historic interest and townscape value. Subsequently a much greater awareness of the importance of nineteenth century buildings and their place in the history of our towns resulted in a substantial review of the conservation area boundary in 1983. Redevelopment in towns since 1967 was often rapid, involving great changes in the urban environment: individual houses were replaced by flats and terraced houses, and shops gave way to monolithic commercial development, often much resented by local people.
Victorian and Edwardian neighbourhoods of established mature character contain fine examples of building design and craftsmanship virtually impossible to reproduce today. Even modest buildings, taken as a group with their neighbours, often contribute to the distinctive character and historic development of the town. Piecemeal redevelopment will result in the progressive erosion of this special character, destroying the very reason for conservation area status. The spacious character of the area makes it especially vulnerable to redevelopment involving the amalgamation of sites, demolition of original houses and the erection of flats of banal design. Experience has shown that the only effective way to conserve such established historic townscape is to designate it as a conservation area so as to control demolition and to encourage creative conversion schemes and a high standard of new building design.