The current protection legislation may miss many boundary structures. Dorset's historic records for
planning, landscape features section, has only one
classification of interest to the planning system: scheduled monument.
Thus it is crucial for
a feature to be scheduled. This is analogous to the situation in conserving wildlife where
SSSIs were the only classification recognised.
The Dorset Wildlife Trust project to notify the
planners in advance of an application minimises the work following from the
inevitable objection during statutory consultation. This system is now recognised by the
authorities as a valuable tool in preventing further loss of biodiversity and is a good model
on which to base a scheme to conserve the historic boundaries.