© Alison McCandlish
The IHBC has condemned the impending loss of conservation and related staff at Wirral, following reports of the impending demise of Wirral Council’s Conservation Service and the loss its Tree Officer due to financial stringencies.
Mike Brown, IHBC Chair, said: ‘Notwithstanding the shocking recent figures documenting the drastic fall in the number of conservation specialists in local authorities, inaction by the government and other statutory agencies seems to stem from a belief that there are no serious consequences. No major landmarks have collapsed, no outstanding conservation areas have been desecrated. Evidence of degradation is merely ‘anecdotal’ but the process of disfigurement and decay is continuous and insidious.’
‘Deletion of conservation posts continues and it is clear that there will be serious consequences. Any failure by Wirral Council to employ specialist advice to manage change at Port Sunlight, for example, one of the best conserved examples of progressive urban planning in the world, is surely an example of a threat of real substance to heritage assets that are of immense importance. It marks a point at which the rot must stop and the government should step in to halt the loss of skilled conservation specialists.’
IHBC Policy Secretary David Kincaid said: ‘Port Sunlight , with more than 900 listed buildings, remains one of the best conserved examples of progressive urban planning in the world. The idea of an authority with 900 listed buildings not having a skilled conservation officer would cause us huge concern on its own, let alone when those 900 listings are only a small part of the whole of the council’s heritage resource.’
‘The region has some of the most significant architecture in the UK, in particular that dating to Britain’s great Age of Empire – merchant palaces, neo-gothic churches, glorious industrial complexes and leafy red brick suburbs. Much of these assets are difficult to conserve, with many being specialist structures that pushed evolving technology to its limits.’
‘In amongst these grand investments are remnants of the North West’s pre-industrial origins – such as the 17th century Limekiln cottage, tucked away behind Poulton’s massive sugar and oil silos. Nonetheless, many historic assets in the Borough – for example the peerless suburbs of Rock Park and Harvey Lonsdale Elmes’ Redcliffe in New Brighton – now face a precarious and uncertain future.’
‘Highlighting the degenerating service standards that we are seeing across large parts of the country, it seems also that there is to be no specialist input into the new Listed Building Consent Order for Port Sunlight, which is not led by a conservation specialist.’
‘In this case, we can only offer our sympathies to the residents, the tourist industry there, and to the future generations that will experience at first hand the damage wrought by these knee-jerk responses.’
The Wirral Society has also highlighted its concern at the developing news.
For examples of cases where councils have fallen foul of the law or the Ombudsman due to poor conservation management see IHBC Skills
For IHBC’s statements on conservation skills, capacity and responsibilities in local authorities see IHBC Resources
