Monthly Archives: July 2013

The European Commission wants to gather views and additional information on the possible introduction of EU wide measures to achieve better environmental performance of buildings, and welcomes contributions from citizens, organisations and public authorities, with a closing date of 1 … Continue reading →

Europa Nostra has launched a Europe-wide project to gather, analyse, consolidate and widely disseminate the existing data on the impact of cultural heritage on society and the economy, operating under the heading of ‘Cultural heritage counts for Europe’. Europa Nostra … Continue reading →

Heritage Open Days (HODs) has launched its online directory detailing its many activities that will be taking place across England in the autumn. Running from 12-15 September, HODs will see thousands of unusual heritage assets throwing their doors open to public, … Continue reading →

Employers could be funded directly to purchase the apprenticeship training they want as part of proposals for consultation just announced, with a closing date of 10 October. BIS writes: The government is consulting on funding reforms proposed by the entrepreneur … Continue reading →

The Heritage Alliance (THA) has called for a new ‘Vision Statement’ on the Historic Environment (HE) for England in its response to the Farrell Review of Architecture and the Built Environment. THA writes: The original Statement, published in 2010, made … Continue reading →

The Local Government Association (LGA) has just produced three free downloadable guides for Councillors, on asset management and metal theft , some of which may also be of interest to other non-specialists or early career conservation professionals. ‘Making the most … Continue reading →

Nominations are now open for the Women in the City 2013 Woman of Achievement Awards, with a category specifically for the built environment. This is a two–part awards process in which women are first nominated for a Category award (Accountancy, … Continue reading →

National Occupational Standards (NOS) describe the competencies required by an individual to carry out a particular job function relating to their job role to a specified industry benchmark and the Construction industry Council is consulting on new and revised NOSs, … Continue reading →

The London of Borough of Hackney has rejected bids by two groups to take on neighbourhood planning powers because of fears about ‘community tensions’ over development issues. Search Planning Resource: LINK

Reducing VAT to 5 per cent on energy efficiency improvement work would help more households than Green Deal finance can, said the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in response to recent statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change … Continue reading →

This weekend will be the Heritage Skills HUB’s 1st Birthday as a Community Interest Company, as it celebrates with a bumper Newsletter that also highlights IHBC’s Linkedin group success (at 3000+) and IHBC President Trefor Thorpe’s welcoming of the consultation … Continue reading →

The English Heritage Advisory Committee (EHAC) advises English Heritage on request on historic environment issues which are novel, contentious, exceptionally sensitive, technically or intellectually complex or which raise broader policy issues, and is seeking advisers with specialisms in local government … Continue reading →

A £15m regeneration plan for Liverpool’s Welsh Streets has stalled hours after councillors gave the go-ahead to build new homes. The council planning committee backed a plan on Tuesday to build more than 150 new homes, demolish up to 440 … Continue reading →

The system used to calculate energy savings under the Green Deal, which is critical to the flagship energy efficiency programme’s success, is unreliable and inflates the savings a householder can expect to achieve from retrofit work to their home by … Continue reading →

The shortlist for the prestigious 2013 RIBA Stirling Prize for the best new building has been announced as six exciting and exceptional buildings will now go head to head for architecture’s highest accolade from the Royal Institute of British Architects … Continue reading →

Local infrastructure schemes in England are set to benefit from a new public-private initiative to get projects off the ground. As part of the new Local Infrastructure Demonstrator Partnership pilots, leading private sector professionals are working for free alongside Government partners … Continue reading →

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the winners of the RIBA Research Trust Awards and the RIBA LKE Ozolins Studentship, with awards covering post-war architecture in the North East of England; British architects’ use of daylight; Shell … Continue reading →

Lambeth Council has agreed to the listing of the Undercroft, the iconic skateboarding area on London’s Southbank, as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).  Skateboards and graffiti artists are campaigning to safeguard the area earmarked for redevelopment as part of … Continue reading →

The Prince’s Regeneration Trust (PRT) is delighted to announce initial Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) support for a £465,900 Catalyst Umbrella bid, designed to change how communities save heritage. PRT writes: PRT proposes to deliver an ambitious national learning and support … Continue reading →

A recently published statistical report from the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) contains an interesting table showing how many appeals each inspector determined in 2012/13, and for each inspector, the proportion of these appeals which were allowed or dismissed and the Planning … Continue reading →

A new best practice centre which its backers claim will be the economic growth equivalent of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence is set to go live at the beginning of September. Search Planning Resource: LINK