Guidance for Organisers of the Queens Diamond Jubilee Beacons

Introduction
In 2012, Her Majesty the Queen celebrates sixty years on the throne. As part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations a series of beacons will be lit across the UK. Natural England and English Heritage support the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and have produced this guide to help beacon organisers plan their events on 4th June 2012. This guidance highlights some of the things to consider when choosing beacon sites.

Natural England
Natural England secures a healthy natural environment for people to enjoy, where wildlife is protected and Englands traditional landscapes are safeguarded for present and future generations. This is done in numerous ways including through the promotion and management of agri-environment schemes and the protection of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Environmental Stewardship is an agri-environment scheme that provides funding to farmers and other land managers in England to deliver effective environmental management on their land. Other funding schemes include the Energy Crops Scheme and Catchment Sensitive Farming. Natural England also manages agreements made under funding schemes that are now closed to new applicants including the Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme, the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and the Wildlife Enhancement Scheme. Sites of Special Scientific Interest are legally protected areas of land supporting the countrys rarest species, habitats, geology and landscapes. It is essential to preserve our remaining natural heritage for future generations and, as such, these sites have similar legal protection to that of listed buildings and Scheduled Ancient Monuments. In order to protect these special sites, owners and managers of SSSIs are required to seek permission, known as a consent, from Natural England prior to undertaking, or permitting, activities that could potentially affect its special interest. Similarly, Agri-environment agreement holders may need permission, in the form of a derogation, from Natural England before undertaking activities on agreement land that deviate from their agreement prescriptions. The lighting of beacons and any associated public access is likely to require consent/derogation and the land owner or manager must seek this on behalf of the beacon organisers. The land owner or manager should speak with Natural England when in the planning stage to discuss siting and access issues, rather than just before any work starts.

You can check if the land in question is designated as a SSSI or in an agri-environment scheme. Go to Nature on the Map and enter the proposed site postcode or place name. Nature on the Map: http://www.natureonthemap.naturalengland.org.uk/ If your proposed beacon site falls within either a Site of Special Scientific Interest or agrienvironment scheme then please contact your local Natural England adviser who will be happy to discuss your proposals in more detail.

English Heritage
English Heritage is the Governments statutory adviser on the historic environment. Our overriding priority is to safeguard for the future the most significant physical remains of our national story. From the English Heritage website you can search The National Heritage List for England list.english-heritage.org.uk/ which provides access to up to date information on all nationally designated heritage assets, such as listed buildings and scheduled monuments. You can use The National Heritage List for England to check if land or any structure where you are considering locating a Diamond Jubilee Beacon is designated. Where this is the case you should take advice to ensure that the erection of the beacon will not inadvertently cause any damage and that you secure any necessary legal permissions. Staff at your local authority Historic Environment Record should be the first point of contact and will also be able to advise if the location of a beacon could cause harm to an important undesignated heritage asset and suggest alternatives. Their contact details can be found on the Heritage Gateway at www.heritagegateway.org.uk/ or www.algao.org.uk In some cases the local authority may advise you to talk to your English Heritage local office.

Contacts and further information

Natural Englands local offices are the main points of local contact. The nine local offices are: East Midlands, East of England, London, North East, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber. For agri-environment schemes, the customer services team on Tel: +44 (0) 300 060 0011 can direct you to the appropriate team. For advice on the land management aspects of SSSI work is available by Tel: +44 (0) 845 600 3078. English Heritage's local offices are the main points of local contact. Each is responsible for work in several counties and with respective local authorities. The nine local offices are: East Midlands, East of England, London, North East, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber. The customer services team on Tel: +44 (0) 870 333 1181 can direct you to the appropriate team. For further information about the Diamond Jubilee Beacons go to www.diamondjubileebeacons.co.uk/