On the Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th of September Historic England are hosting their Places Panel in Boston. The Places Panel is essentially a design review panel, made up of 17 influential members – previously known as the Urban Panel – that provides a broad spectrum of independent expertise to help local authorities and others engage in the regeneration and revitalisation of historic places.
The Panel’s visits, which typically last for two days, provide strategic recommendations and a legacy of networking that can have formative and lasting benefits. You will find the Panels terms of reference here: https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/committees-panels/historic-places-panel-reference-pdf/
The full list of members and their biographies can be found here: Historic Places Panel (formerly Urban Panel) Biographies | Historic England
While funding is not a direct benefit of the Panel’s attendance, many of its members also sit on, and advise government on future investments such as Town Deal and Levelling Up.
The Places Panel in Boston is an exciting opportunity for us to show its members all the wonderful things Boston has to offer but also for us to use their knowledge and expertise to review recent strategic plans for the area, and draw from experiences they’ve had of similar projects elsewhere.
On Tuesday the 28th the Panel members plan to conduct a walking tour of Boston, making a number of stops along the way. These stops include the Municipal Offices (11:20am), Black Sluice Pumping Station (1:45pm), St. Boltoph’s (2:30pm), Shodfriars (4:30pm) and the Guildhall (6:30pm). On the following morning, Wednesday 29th they will take a bus tour of the Port.
The Places Panel is very important to Boston’s future and we hope that we can all show them just how great Boston is.
The Report which follows the event is expected in October and will be available on Historic England’s website. Reports from previous Place Panel reviews can also be found online via: Historic Places Panel (formerly Urban Panel) Review Papers | Historic England