Monthly Archives: September 2011

Trefor Thorpe, the former chief architect for the Welsh Government’s historic environment service Cadw, has been elected president of The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC), the UK’s professional body for conservation specialists, taking up the post from Eddie Booth … Continue reading →

The IHBC has welcomed the conference on ‘Improving Thermal Performance in Traditional Buildings’, scheduled for 15-16 November in Greenwich and organised by COTAC, the Conference on Training in Architectural Conservation.   IHBC Director Sean O’Reilly said: ‘This is a great … Continue reading →

Scotland’s Finance Minister John Swinney has announced his ‘Scottish Spending Review 2011 and Draft Budget 2012-13’ as, over the next three years Historic Scotland’s budget will be cut by 30% in real terms   On Culture the report states: ‘The … Continue reading →

Launched in May, the National Heritage Protection Plan (NHPP) is the national framework bringing together work by English Heritage (EH) and other partners within the sector on historic environment protection and, to kick-start two-way dialogue with the sector, English Heritage … Continue reading →

A robust framework by which the effectiveness of Scottish planning system can be measured should be introduced, a report from the national spending watchdog urges.   The Scottish Government says: Substantial changes were made to Scotland’s planning system through ThePlanning … Continue reading →

A proposal to remove historic buildings from a protected register risks destroying ‘the heritage of local communities’, an archaeologist has said.   Measures proposed by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht would see all structures dating from after … Continue reading →

The UK Association of Preservation Trusts (UK APT) 2011 conference, exploring the ‘Big Society’, will take place at the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast on 13-14 October.   UKAPT says: Big Society represents both a major challenge and an opportunity for … Continue reading →

Community First is an £80m government-funded programme that will run for four years, until March 2015, delivered by the Community Development Foundation, to fund (including match-funding) people in deprived areas to give their time and expertise to local projects – … Continue reading →

Last year the Government announced that British Waterways will transfer to a New Waterways Charity (NWC) and the new Charity, whose name will be announced shortly and which will be up and running by April 2012, is now seeking 5 … Continue reading →

Sixteen local groups have been chosen to go forward to the finals of the English Heritage Angel Awards, supported by Andrew Lloyd Webber, in London on 31st October.   English Heritage experts met recently to sift carefully through more than … Continue reading →

The Historic Environment Forum (HEF), the top level cross-sectoral heritage committee for England has written to all English Planning authorities to make the case for retaining historic environment expertise in the face of the drastic cuts registered in research in … Continue reading →

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has said continued cuts to the number of conservation officers, highlighted in the Report on Local Authority Staff Resources proves its case for fundamental reform of the heritage system.   CLA Deputy President … Continue reading →

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has renewed its call on ministers to rebalance the planning appeals system by restricting the grounds on which developers can appeal and introducing a limited community right of appeal.   CPRE writes: The … Continue reading →

The Built Environment Forum Scotland (BEFS) has supported a joint statement calling on the Government to use VAT to incentivise consumer take up of the Green Deal.   Twenty six organisations are backing the statement, which urges the Government to … Continue reading →

Prime Minister David Cameron has agreed to meet with CPRE and other groups like the National Trust concerned about the Government’s planning reform agenda.   His offer to discuss the implications of the Coalition’s draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) … Continue reading →

Northern Ireland’s Environment Minister Alex Attwood has called for a balanced debate and early progress on designating a number of Special National Parks in the Province.   The call came as he launched a consultation on the required legislation and … Continue reading →

Britain’s planners are launching a nationwide myth busting campaign in England this week to boost confidence in the local planning system and to improve the understanding of the work of the planning profession. The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), which … Continue reading →

A field sports company and its director have been fined a total of £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of £125,000 by York Crown Court after admitting damaging Farndale Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the North York Moors … Continue reading →

The annual touring Council and linked conference of the IHBC on 22-23 September will be in Manchester, as the IHBC’s North West (NW) Branch leads in arranging a reception and, on 23 September, its respected annual Branch conference, themed around … Continue reading →

Industry views are being sought on a range of issues around skills and in particular whether current construction qualifications will meet the needs of employers and learners in the future in a consultation launched by CITB-ConstructionSkills. The review of the … Continue reading →

Employers will be able to find out how to attract a more diverse range of talent into their businesses and help ensure future growth at the Construction Diversity Expo 2011 on Monday 12 September at The Guildhall in London.   … Continue reading →

Angela Brady will become President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the UK body for architecture and the architectural profession, taking over the two-year elected presidency from Ruth Reed.   Angela is the 74th RIBA President, a position … Continue reading →

Following a joint Radcliffe Trust (RT) & Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) event in March, entitled ‘Heritage and Crafts: working together to develop skills and sustain the sector’ the organisers have written to provide an update on progress.   Carole Milner, … Continue reading →

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has made the highest ever funding award for architectural research in the Institute’s history, as it announced the recipients of funding for architectural research for the 2011/12 academic session, for which the combined … Continue reading →