Work has started on a pilot survey of traditional buildings in Birsay as part of a project to compile a Local List of all important built structures across Orkney.

The creation of the Orkney Local List is aimed at cataloguing the county’s built heritage to ensure that this information is available to assist the planning process.

The Local List policy has been in place since October 2011 with relevant buildings being surveyed, assessed and included in the Local List whenever planning applications are lodged which may affect them.

The pilot survey in Birsay will be mainly desk based and pull together information from resources such as Historic Scotland and planning archives. However, the survey may in some cases also involve a small amount of fieldwork such as taking photographs of buildings and structures from the public road where no photographs exist at present.


Buildings which will be considered for inclusion on the Local List will typically be older traditional buildings, including houses, outbuildings and non-domestic buildings, but also some non-traditional, wartime and other unique structures which are in good condition or could reasonably be brought back into use.

The pilot survey in Birsay will help the Council determine whether the wider Orkney Local List is best created ‘parish by parish’ in the same way as the pilot, or simply through conducting surveys ‘as and when’ planning applications are lodged, as is current practice.

Chair of the Council’s Planning and Protective Services Committee, Councillor Mike Drever, said: "Orkney has a rich and varied heritage reflected in the buildings and structures we find throughout the county.

"Developing the Orkney Local List will help ensure that wherever possible buildings of local historical importance and merit are recognised and protected through the planning process."

Each building in Birsay will be assessed against the criteria detailed within the Orkney Local List guidance, which was approved by Council last year following consultation with the public and key agencies.

Properties which are entered on the List will be eligible to apply for conservation and heritage grants in the same way as listed buildings.

(GK)