The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) has welcomed the high-level commitment by the Wales First Minister to ensure that addressing Buildings at Risk (BAR) will be a priority in the country’s new Heritage Bill.
First Minister Carwyn Jones said in Senedd on Tuesday that owners of historic buildings at risk should ‘live up to their responsibilities’ and that ‘it is right to say there are concerns about the condition of many listed buildings, particularly, of course, continuing maintenance and neglect by their owners’.
Responding to the statement, IHBC Wales Branch Chair Richard Dean said: ‘The IHBC is delighted to hear that the forthcoming Heritage Protection Bill will help ensure that owners live up to their responsibilities to care for their historic properties. For the commitment to be made good, by Local Authorities and others, then resources and powers must be made available together, both to support owners as well as tackle less interested parties.’
‘One way to transform the low priority Buildings at Risk currently have in many Local Authorities is to build on Cadw’s national BAR survey and introduce a national performance indicator for Local Authorities against which we can measure outcomes that secure the future of all of our shared built inheritance’.
‘Scotland already uses a comparable national indicator for the health of its historic environment – covering its nationally significant heritage – and I have little doubt that we could build successfully on that, most easily by broadening its application across the historic environment’.
The BBC reported on the Senedd discussion as follows:
First Minister Carwyn Jones says planned new legislation should protect the future of historic Welsh buildings in danger of falling into disrepair.
He was responding to concerns raised by Clwyd South AM Ken Skates that more could be done to safeguard 3,000 historic buildings ‘at risk ‘ in Wales.
Mr Jones told the Senedd the draft Bill will ensure ‘owners live up to their responsibilities’. Mr Skates said 80 buildings were on an at risk register in Wrexham alone.
He raised the issue at Tuesday’s first minister’s questions in the assembly, saying: ‘Ensuring that our historic buildings are fully appreciated and protected for future generations is an important role that should not simply be down to the local council.
‘The number of historic buildings at risk in Wrexham is very worrying indeed. A recent report highlighted that many important buildings considered to be of historical interest across Wales are at risk of falling into ruin, with over 3,000 historic buildings and items considered at risk. The Brymbo Ironworks is one such example. ‘
The site, which closed in 1990, includes several scheduled ancient monuments, such as the foundry.
Welsh Assembly Article: LINK
BBC News Wales: LINK
