Monthly Archives: June 2013

The Department for Culture, Media & Sport has announced the shortlist of four cities in contention for the 2017 City of culture: Dundee, Hull, Leicester and Swansea Bay.  DCMS writes: The announcement by England’s Culture Minister Ed Vaizey follows a … Continue reading →

Results of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s ‘Skills for the Future’ funding programme have been announced.  For the Skills for the Future programme see: LINK  For the HLF programme see: LINK 

The Open Spaces Society and members of Helredale Neighbourhood Council (HNC) in Whitby, North Yorkshire have welcomed the news that an application to register Helredale playing fields as a village green will be heard in the Supreme Court.  The application … Continue reading →

The Society of the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) has launched a campaign to stop heritage being singled out for harsher treatment under the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) as it calls on government to protect England’s heritage.  The SPAB … Continue reading →

The Victorian Society and SAVE Britain’s Heritage have begun Judicial Review proceedings over Sheffield City Council’s decision to approve a redevelopment scheme proposed by Sheffield University which would involve the demolition of the Grade 11 listed Jessop Hospital building.  Read … Continue reading →

A garden chapel in Edinburgh, a rebuilt castle in Warwickshire and the Olympic masterplan have been named on a list of Britain’s best new building projects.  They are among 43 buildings in the UK to receive awards for architectural excellence … Continue reading →

Peter Burley, the Planning Inspectorate’s chief planning inspector, is to retire at the end of September 2013.  He has worked for the Inspectorate for 24 years and was the Inspectorate’s Director for Wales prior to taking up his current role … Continue reading →

In addition to Liverpool’s waterfront, three World Heritage Sites (WHS) in the UK are being recommended for listing as ‘endangered’ by advisers to UNECSO: the Palace of Westminster and its environs, Hayle Harbour in Cornwall, and the Giant’s Causeway in … Continue reading →

Saturday 22 June is England’s Civic Day and over 150 civic societies have already signed up to hold events to celebrate the distinctiveness of their local area while everyone is invited to join in and learn more about where they … Continue reading →

A man has been charged in connection with an explosion at the constituency office of Planning Minister Nick Boles, a Lincolnshire MP. Minor damage was done to the offices at Burghley Street, Bourne, in the early hours of Monday. No … Continue reading →

CITB Scotland provided a showcase of events between the 20 – 24 May 2013 as part of Scottish Apprenticeship Week which included MSP visits and employer seminars and Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop doing some slate roofing.  CITB writes: The week … Continue reading →

Natural England is working with Defra and other regulators to review environment guidance and all the environmental information required from businesses to make sure it is really needed and used, and to have your say, go to Defra’s interactive website … Continue reading →

A pioneering Mid Sussex parish council, Slaugham, has become one of the first in England to publish orders that allow communities to grant planning permission for new buildings, sidestepping the normal planning application process. Search Planning Resource: LINK

The UK Contractor Group’s ‘Open Doors’ Weekend representing the spirit of unveiling the innovative and dynamic side to the UK construction industry, is scheduled for Friday 27 and Satrday 28 September.  CITB writes: Following the success of the 2012 weekend, … Continue reading →

A Norwich man has been fined £20,000 for cutting down 11 protected trees in one day.  Owen Hanbury, 62, of Constitution Hill, pleaded guilty to 11 charges of breaching tree preservation orders on 29 November 2011. He was also ordered … Continue reading →

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has published its response to its consultation on a package of measures to simplify and streamline the application process in England. The response confirmed the administration would introduce proposed reforms to the … Continue reading →

As part of a wider ‘streamlining’ strategy, a new amendment to heritage legislation removes the requirement for design and access statements to explain the principles and concepts that have been applied to the scale, layout, and appearance of the works … Continue reading →

Sir Terry Farrell’s independent review of Architecture and the Built Environment, established by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), has published a call for evidence to seek out views on its four key themes, including ‘cultural heritage and … Continue reading →

As earlier this year, the European Commission adopted a green paper on ‘A 2030 framework for climate and energy policies’, setting the scene for debate and negotiation, Energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey has made the government’s position clear.  … Continue reading →

Delivering the annual David Talbot Rice Memorial Lecture at the University of Edinburgh Scotland’s Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said that ‘the UK Government is wrong to measure the value of culture simply in economic terms’, as she set out the … Continue reading →