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England’s Department for Education has published for consultation proposals for a new funding model for apprenticeships and further details on the apprenticeship levy as £2.5 billion will be invested in apprenticeship training in England by 2020 under plans recently unveiled.

Government writes:

The funding will support people of all ages to gain high-quality skills and experience and help employers to offer more training opportunities and build a skilled workforce.

Under the plans for the levy, the government has proposed that employers that are too small to pay the levy – around 98% of employers in England – will have 90% of the costs of training paid for by the government, reassuring millions of small businesses.

Extra support – worth £2,000 per trainee – will also be available for employers and training providers that take on 16- to 18-year-old apprentices or young care leavers. Employers with fewer than 50 employees will also have 100% of training costs paid for by government if they take on these apprentices. This will help to ensure every young person, regardless of background or ability, has the chance to make their first step into work.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Robert Halfon said: ‘We need to make sure people of all ages and backgrounds have a chance to get on in life. Apprenticeships give young people – especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds – a ladder of ?opportunity. That’s why we continue to work tirelessly to deliver the skills our country needs. The apprenticeship levy is absolutely crucial to this.  Our businesses can only grow and compete on the world stage if they have the right people, with the right skills. The apprenticeship levy will help create millions of opportunities for individuals and employers. This will give our young people the chance they deserve in life and to build a highly-skilled future workforce that the UK needs.’

The government is inviting employers and training providers to have their say on the initial funding proposals, to try to ensure final plans fully meet the needs of all those involved in the apprenticeship programme.

The proposals outlined include plans to:

• support all employers to offer high-quality apprenticeships: employers which are too small to contribute to the apprenticeship levy would have 90% of the cost of apprenticeship training paid – ensuring employers of all sizes can develop the next generation of skilled workers
• provide extra funding for young apprentices and care leavers: the government will pay an additional £2,000 to help 16- to 18-year-olds, young care leavers and young people with an education, health and care (EHC) plan, make their first step into the world of work – with £1,000 going to employers and an additional £1,000 to training providers. Furthermore, employers with fewer than 50 employees will not have to pay anything towards the cost of training a 16- to 18-year-old apprentice, young care leaver or young person with an EHC plan
• offer more flexibility for employers to retrain individuals: employers will be able to use levy funds to retrain workers in new skills, even if they have prior qualifications – giving them the freedom to make the training decisions that are right for them so they can train any individual to start an apprenticeship, as long as it is significantly different from their previous qualifications
• support employers taking on more apprentices: levy-paying employers – those with a pay bill of over £3 million that want to spend more on training than is in their digital account – will benefit from government support with 90% of their additional apprenticeship training costs being funded, so they can continue to recruit and retrain highly-skilled employees
• give employers more control and access to better quality training: employers will have the power to determine exactly what training their apprentices receive and what provider they receive it from. A new register of training providers, also outlined today, will be introduced from April 2017 to improve the link between training providers and employers to will help employers identify a high-quality provider so they can deliver the skills they need to grow.

Petra Wilton, the Chartered Management Institute’s (CMI) Director of Strategy, said: ‘Apprenticeships are a proven route for raising business productivity. Leading employers are already adopting the new professional pathways such as the chartered manager degree apprenticeship, and the new generous levels of government co-investment announced today are welcomed by many businesses, especially those smaller organisations outside the scope of the levy.  I strongly encourage employers to get involved and ensure that this extensive new offer fully meets their needs. As it can provide the much needed injection of confidence and certainty in the skills agenda, which is needed now more than ever.’ 

See the consultation and read more….

A new programme has been launched by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) called ‘heritage endowments’ aiming to help organisations create a regular annual income.

The HLF writes:

Helping people explore, enjoy and share their heritage, in all its diversity, is at the core of all we do at HLF. But that principle firmly relies on our heritage being open and accessible to the public, as well as safeguarded for the future.

As in any industry, an over reliance on a single source of income has the potential to weaken the resilience of a heritage organisation.  Diversification is key and that’s why today we’ve launched Heritage Endowments.  Heritage Endowments will enable organisations to create financial reserves that can be drawn on and invested to create a regular source of annual income.

Now, these are challenging economic times and we appreciate that building an endowment and attracting philanthropic giving isn’t easy.  But where Heritage Endowments helps is by providing grants of £250,000, £500,000 or £1million that will be matched pound for pound by private donations.

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of HLF, said: ‘Building an endowment is one way heritage organisations can enhance their long-term reserves, which is vital for financial resilience.  In this difficult economic landscape that’s a challenging ask but Heritage Endowments is there to provide the boost needed to make it happen.’

This new endowments programme builds on the success of Catalyst Endowments.  A partnership between the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, HLF and Arts Council England, Catalyst has helped over 30 heritage organisations diversify their income streams by attracting private donations to create endowments. Heritage Endowments aims to continue this success.

View the press release

The Birmingham Post has reported on recent issues in Birmingham city, claiming that ‘the historic fabric of some areas is now ‘in crisis’ as the authority has been forced to scrap several conservation areas because it cannot enforce regulations within them anymore’

Read more….

The Welsh government has started consulting on proposed changes to the planning appeals regime, including updates to standard daily amounts charged by the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of Welsh ministers and updated guidance for awards of costs, all with a closing date of 4 November.

See the consultation

Three pilot programmes have been announced by Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) relating to the Cultural Citizens Programme which aims to help disadvantaged children access cultural opportunities, including work under Historic England through heritage schools.

DCMS writes:

Six hundred schoolchildren will be given unique access to cultural institutions as part of a new scheme to increase access to the arts, the Culture Secretary Karen Bradley announced today.

The first pilots of the Cultural Citizens Programme will be launched in September in Liverpool and Blackpool, Birmingham, and Barking and Dagenham. The programme targets disadvantaged communities where fewer people currently visit museums, galleries or the theatre.

Young people on the programme will be offered a range of cultural activities, such as free visits to local plays, behind the scenes access to museums and galleries, and exclusive trips to world class venues, so they develop a lifelong love of the arts.

Participants in some areas will build new skills, including learning to use social media accounts or being tour guides. Young people taking part in the programme will also be encouraged to work towards an Arts Award qualification….

The details of the three pilot programmes are as follows:

Liverpool and Blackpool:

• Working with Curious Minds, the programme will give 200 local 11-14 year olds the opportunity to engage with cultural organisations, public art, heritage sites and arts festivals.
• Young people will work with specially trained Culture Coaches to plan extra-curricular visits to festivals, theatres, galleries and museums such as FACT, Liverpool Everyman, Tate Liverpool and Museum of Liverpool.
• They will review and share their experiences to achieve a Bronze Arts Award.

Barking/Dagenham:

• A New Direction will partner with Creative Barking and Dagenham and Studio3Arts to ensure high quality arts opportunities for pupils across five secondary schools.
• Cultural Citizens Clubs will be set up in the schools and will help students to design a programme of cultural visits.
• The pilot will link with ‘Creative Schools’ a network of 30 arts organisations who will provide visits and opportunities for the young people involved.
• All the work will be accredited through the Arts Award so that young people will finish the programme with a qualification that will help them progress to higher education or work.

Birmingham:

• Kids in Museums Cultural Citizens pilot will look to partner with 20 arts organisations in Birmingham – from opera to street theatre, orchestras to high art.
• 200 young people – Cultural Champions – will work with 20 organisations, taking on roles of responsibility within these organisations, such as tour guides in galleries, front of house in theatres, running social media, designing an events programme and running workshops.
• Birmingham’s 200 Cultural Champions will be given free tickets to three different performances in the city, beginning this October with the Birmingham Rep theatre

View the press release

Jewish Heritage UK has published a new report into state of repair of synagogues has concluded that general improvements have been made overall in their condition, and flagship projects have helped repair those most at risk, however falls in membership and poor maintenance are still risk factors UK wide.

Jewish Heritage UK writes:

Britain’s historic synagogues are in better shape than they were five years ago, according to Jewish Heritage’s latest report published this week.  This is especially the case in London where all but one historic synagogue are now rated as ‘Good’ or ‘Fair’ in terms of the key indicators by which ‘Risk’ is measured in the Heritage world: ‘Condition’ and ‘Usage’. The biggest threats to historic synagogues are poor maintenance and redundancy because of falling membership.

Big repair projects have been carried out at Sandys Row on the edge of the city and at Golders Green, thanks in large part to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Both buildings are now experiencing a new lease of life, contrary to many expectations.

Britain’s oldest ‘cathedral synagogue’, Singers Hill in Birmingham, that for years fought closure, is also enjoying a renaissance. Now finding itself In the centre of a regenerated city centre quarter, this building has undergone renovation largely funded privately by members and has acquired a dynamic rabbinical couple who are turning the shul once again into a hive of activity.

Leicester’s Orthodox congregation have opted to sell off their 1950s hall across the road and to hang on to their distinctive late Victorian synagogue, shown on the cover of the Report. Their foresight has paid off: since 2012 they have landed no fewer than three publicly-funded Heritage grants, totalling almost £145,000, for repairs to the building, development of educational resources on site, as well as for a documentation project of the turn-of-the-20th-century Jewish Section at the city’s Gilroes Cemetery, that was opened soon after the synagogue (in 1902).

The Report’s author, Dr Sharman Kadish, commented, ‘All these examples demonstrate the fact that well-maintained buildings stimulate more activity inside them.  Jewish Heritage’s aim is to preserve the powerful link between Binyan [building] and Minyan [community] for the benefit of future generations.’

Challenges remain. The Report highlights a group of highly graded Victorian synagogues: Liverpool’s Princes Road (Grade I), Bradford’s Bowland Street (Grade II*) and Brighton’s Middle Street (Grade II*) as in need of urgent work to arrest further deterioration. This is especially true in Bradford, where an HLF Repair Grant has been awarded for the first time. In all these places small enthusiastic congregations have worked hard not only to make their shul a widely recognised hub for local Jews, but also a magnet for many non-Jewish visitors, including school parties, especially during this month’s national and European Jewish Heritage Open Days.

‘At Risk’ synagogues are most likely to date from the early 20th century and to be located in the North of England. Sunderland, Blackpool and Liverpool’s Greenbank have all now closed and are seeking appropriate new users.

The recently announced capital development grant for the Manchester Jewish Museum, housed in the city’s Victorian Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is set to bring the amount of public funding contributed to historic synagogues to nearly £5 million.

View the press release

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal against a scheme as Rother District Council had implied that the Victorian Society had had no comment when it had not in fact been consulted, so the Court of Appeal held that planning committee members had been significantly misled by this.

Robert Tranter, Solicitor, Monitoring Officer and Head of Legal Services, Monmouthshire County Council, writes:

The Court of Appeal has quashed the grant of planning permission for a development on the site of a bowling club over the local authority’s failure to consult the Victorian Society and an officer’s misleading advice.

The case of Loader, R (On the Application Of) v Rother District Council & Anor [2016] EWCA Civ 795 concerned a challenge to Rother DC’s decision to approve the development of 39 sheltered apartments on the site in Bexhill comprising open space, within the setting of a grade II listed building.

A High Court judge, Mrs Justice Patterson, had previously refused to quash the planning permission.

Lord Justice Lindblom said the case went to the authority’s understanding and application of relevant government policy in paragraph 74 of the National Planning Policy Framework (‘NPPF’), and to the consequences of its failure to notify English Heritage and the Victorian Society of the proposal before determining the application for planning permission.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal but only on the ground of the failure to consult the Victorian Society.

Lord Justice Lindblom said: ‘The council plainly thought it necessary to obtain the Victorian Society’s views on this proposed development. One can understand why. The Victorian Society had objected to the previous proposal. They had criticized the design of the development, and expressed concern about its likely effect on ‘the Victorian character of the area’ and its ‘detrimental impact upon the setting of the Grade II listed terrace’. These concerns were reflected in the inspector’s decision dismissing the appeal.

‘Had the defects in the design now been overcome by the changes made to the design in this proposal? This was an important question for the council in the decision it now had to make. Not surprisingly, it saw the need to seek the Victorian Society’s view, even though it was not statutorily obliged to do so. Their view, whatever it might be, would assist the Planning Committee in the exercise of its own planning and aesthetic judgment.’

Lord Justice Lindblom added that by the time Rother’s Planning Committee met to make its decision on the application for planning permission, the council had failed to consult the Victorian Society, and at least one of its officers knew it had failed.

‘The officer given the task of consulting the Victorian Society had sent the consultation letter to a disused e-mail address, had got an automatic response telling him so, and then not sent the consultation letter to the e-mail address given in the automatic response. So, in fact, there had been no consultation of the Victorian Society on this proposal, and the officer responsible for undertaking that consultation knew that,’ the judge said.

‘…Therefore, in its context, which was the section of the officer’s report devoted specifically to ‘Consultations’, the note ‘Victorian Society: No comments received’, though factually correct, was nonetheless misleading. No one has suggested, or could, that it was intentionally so. Bad faith is not alleged. The officer responsible for preparing the report could not simply have said ‘No comments received’ if he was aware that the Victorian Society had had no opportunity to comment.

‘Obviously, however, the absence of any comment from the Victorian Society – positive, negative, or neutral – was seen by the officer as significant enough to mention in his report, instead of simply saying nothing. It was, he thought, something the members should have in their minds. It was, in his view, significant. This much seems plain. But anyway, there can be no doubt that, left uncorrected, the implication of the words ‘No comments received’ could only be that the Victorian Society had been consulted on this proposal, had considered it, and had concluded they did not wish to object to it. This was the impression the committee was given. It was false.’

Lord Justice Lindblom said there could be ‘no question but that the mistake made by the officer in his report was, in its context and circumstances and in its possible consequence, sufficiently misleading to invalidate the committee’s decision’.

The Court of Appeal judge added: ‘It was ‘significantly’ – or ‘seriously’ – misleading on a material matter, and it was left uncorrected before the decision was taken. In the context of the duty in section 66(1) of the Listed Buildings Act, the committee was misinformed on the consultation of a national amenity society, which had been an objector to a similar proposal, and whose views on this application the council had chosen to seek and might have made a difference to its decision.

‘In taking this misinformation into account, it could be said to have proceeded on the basis of an error of fact. But I think the unlawfulness here is better described as the taking into account of an immaterial consideration.

‘What the Victorian Society would have said if they had been consulted by the council we do not know. It is impossible to say that their view on the revised proposal would have made no difference to the council’s decision. There is therefore no scope here for withholding relief in the exercise of the court’s discretion.’ 

Read the judgement

HES (Historic Environment Scotland) has announced details of the 12 latest people to be commemorated under the commemorative plaque scheme, including entertainer Stan Laurel, Sarah Siddons Mair, early 20th century campaigner for women’s education and suffrage and Sir Nigel Gresley, railway engineer.

HES (Historic Environment Scotland) writes:

Glasgow’s favourite ‘Son of the Desert’ is to be commemorated with a plaque, which will be mounted on the Glasgow tenement building where he spent many of his formative years.  Although born in Cumbria, Stan Laurel (real name Arthur Stanley Jefferson) of ‘Laurel and Hardy’ fame, moved to Glasgow when he was a boy, and it would be in the city’s famous Britannia Panopticon, the world’s oldest, still-used music hall, that he would make his stage debut, aged 16.

Other recipients of the Commemorative Plaque Scheme include luminaries and pioneers in the fields of engineering, architecture, literature, science, politics, and the advancement of women’s rights.

Martin Fairley, Head of Grants at Historic Environment Scotland, said: ‘The idea of the scheme is to allow the public to tell us which historic figures deserve to be celebrated and commemorated. By installing a plaque on a building closely associated with that person we hope to emphasise the social and human element of local architecture. After all, a building can have a great influence on the character of the person who lived or worked there.  This latest batch of nominations provides some fine examples of that, as well as some prominent figures, from Stan Laurel, to Nobel Prize winning physicist Max Born, famous biographer James Boswell, and medical pioneer Dr Flora Murray, to name just a few.’

Stan Laurel’s plaque is set to be mounted on the wall of the tenement block on 17 Craigmillar Road in Glasgow’s South Side where he spent part of his formative years. His father, also Arthur Jefferson, was a theatre manager and the family had moved north of the border when he was offered a job at the city’s Metropole Theatre (now demolished).

The young Stan Laurel was fascinated by the theatre and made his first tentative steps into show business when he was 16, making his first professional performance on the stage of the Britannia Music Hall, which remains something of a mecca for Laurel and Hardy fans to this day. Although his career was to take him all over the world, Laurel always retained a strong affinity with Glasgow. Such was his popularity with Glaswegians that when Laurel and Hardy arrived on tour in Glasgow, huge crowds gathered in the streets to see the pair.

In total there are 12 recipients of plaques in this round, which includes the author Neil Munro, famous for his comic creation ‘Para Handy’, caption of the Vital Spark; Sarah Siddons Mair, early 20th century campaigner for women’s education and suffrage; railway engineer Sir Nigel Gresley, who was responsible for creating many of Scotland’s railway networks; and politician Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham, who was the first ever socialist member of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and a founder of the Scottish Labour Party, as well as the National Party in Scotland.

The Historic Environment Scotland Commemorative Plaque Scheme celebrates significant historic figures by awarding plaques to be erected on the buildings where they lived or worked. Anybody can nominate a person to be recognised, by completing a simple application form that will be available later this year.

Read more….

The Twentieth Century Society (C20) has released a congratulatory commentary on the recent Getty Grant ‘Keeping it Modern’ awards, which offers grants to significant C20th buildings, noting that previous winners have recently attended their conservation management and planning sessions on conserving modern concrete, and welcoming two female award winners. 

The Twentieth Century Society writes:

The Getty Foundation has announced its 2016 Keeping It Modern grantees. Of the nine recipients, for the first time since the initiative’s 2014 launch, two of the projects are designed by women.

Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1072 on France’s Côte d’Azur will receive $200,000. The holiday home of Gray and her then-partner, architectural critic Jean Badovici, was built between 1926-29. It has decayed from environmental stress and decades of neglect from private owners. The building is now in the care of the nonprofit Association Cap Moderne.

Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro – or Glass House — in São Paulo, Brazil, will be awarded $195,000. The architect and her husband’s onetime residence, built between 1950 and 1952, is in good shape. It has been maintained since 1995 by the Instituto Lina Bo e P.M. Bardi, which will use the Getty grant to develop a more strategic preventive maintenance plan.

In all, $1.3 million will be dispersed among the grantees, which also include Keeping It Modern’s first project in Africa. The Nickson and Borys Children’s Library in Accra, Ghana, will receive $140,000. The 1966 example of Tropical Modernism was designed by the architectural firm Nickson and Borys. The Accra Metropolitan Assembly now owns the building, which is maintained by the Ghana Library Board. The Getty funds will go toward developing a conservation plan.

The other grant recipients are Wallace Harrison’s First Presbyterian Church in Connecticut; Eladio Dieste’s Cristo Obrero Church in Uruguay; Gevorg Kochar and Mikael Mazmanyan’s Sevan Writers’ Resort in Armenia; Frederick Gibberd’s Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral in the Britain; Gautam Sarabhai’s workshop building in India; and Andrija Mutnjakovic’s National Library of Kosovo in Kosovo.

Keeping it Modern grants go to significant C20th buildings, but the Getty look for projects which offer scope to explore issues and develop solutions in the field of architectural conservation. ‘These latest grants underscore that purpose’ said Antoine Wilmering, senior program officer at the Getty Foundation.  The newest Keeping it Modern projects will address conservation issues such as how to treat ageing concrete and the use of clear or coloured glass, sometimes embedded in concrete.

Last week recipients of previous grants attended workshops in London on conservation management and planning and on conserving modern concrete, organised by the C20 Society and funded by the Getty Foundation. It is heartening that the Foundation is doing so much to support good conservation planning and sympathetic concrete conservation for C20 buildings.

View the news release

Find out about the grants…

Sarah McLeod, Arkwright Society Chief Executive, has written a blog for the Heritage Lottery Fund which demonstrates the lessons learned through the Cromford Mills industrial heritage regeneration project.

The blog explains the project planning and management process, highlighting issues encountered along the way and also discussing the economic and social impacts of the project.

View the blog

Details of the housing proposed for the site of the Brutalist Robin Hood Gardens in London have been announced, designed by Haworth Tompkins and Metropolitan Workshop.

Swan Housing Association writes:

Swan Housing Association has submitted a planning application to Tower Hamlets for Phase 2 of the Blackwall Reach Regeneration Project in Poplar, East London.  Planning was submitted following extensive public consultation held by Swan and their regeneration partners of Tower Hamlets Council and the Greater London Authority.

Designed by Metropolitan Workshop and Haworth Tompkins, acting as joint architects, the proposed scheme delivers 268 new homes across four new buildings.

The scheme retains the original central park and mound within Robin Hood Gardens, a large public space shielded from the surrounding roads. An unusual feature in this densely built part of London, the park is appreciated by local residents and so the design retains this space in its entirety.

The four buildings, two designed by each practice, share a common architectural language but are different in style and expression, creating two distinct architectural ‘quarters’ around the central space.

Phase 2 is part of a large regeneration project, consisting of five phases, which will transform a key area of the borough, adjacent to the Blackwall Tunnel, replacing 252 homes with a total of 1575 new homes, commercial premises and community facilities. The entire masterplan will be delivered over the next decade, with the first phase already completed in 2015.

View the news release

 View more information on the proposed redevelopment, including images in ‘Dezeen’

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has inscribed the Gorham’s Cave Complex in Gibraltar as the UK’s 30th World Heritage Site (WHS).

The Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) writes:

The caves were the last known dwelling of Neanderthals in the world and they lived there for almost 100,000 years. Gorham’s Caves, which lie at the base of the Rock of Gibraltar, contain rock engravings dating back more than 39,000 years, as well as campfires, stone tools and the remains of butchered animals.

The archaeological findings have provided extensive information about the cultural traditions and lifestyles of Neanderthals – from their cognitive abilities to how they caught their food, such as birds, seals and dolphins. One of the largest collections of bird remains from the Neanderthal period were excavated from these caves.

Heritage Minister Tracey Crouch said:  It’s fantastic news that the Gorham’s Cave Complex has become the UK’s 30th World Heritage Site. It gives a unique insight into the culture and traditions of Neanderthals thousands of years ago and demonstrates the exciting range of the UK’s cultural heritage.  The site consists of four sea caves – Bennett’s, Gorham’s, Vanguard and Hyaena. After the Neanderthals, modern humans entered inhabited the caves around 20,000 years ago.  The decision to inscribe the caves as a World Heritage Site was made at the 40th annual meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Istanbul, Turkey. The UK has also recently submitted a bid for the Lake District to be inscribed as a World Heritage Site.

Read more….

The Churches Conservation Trust has reported on the loss of a rare and historic stained glass panel from Withcote Chapel, dating from 1530.

Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) writes:

The theft of the precious stained glass panel was reported to The Churches Conservation Trust in the early morning of the 31^st July by a member of the local community.  The Trust believes the theft took place between the 24^th and 30^th July and is appealing to the public to help find and recover the panel.

The irreplaceable panel measures approximately 37cm high by 20cm wide. It depicts the prophet Ezekiel with flowing red locks, a blue halo and wearing white, black and red robes.  The panel dates from the 1530s and is part of a series of windows in the chapel that were likely commissioned at the time the chapel was built.

The historically important chapel has been part of the Leicestershire landscape for 500 years. It is much loved by the local community, regularly visited by walking groups and history lovers and has a well-attended annual service. The unique building has links to the Tudor Court as the stained glass was donated by Roger Ratcliffe, Gentleman to the Bedchamber of Catherine of Aragon, and the interior contains the coats of arms of Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII.

The stained glass panel is attributed to Galeon Hone, glazier to King Henry VIII. The removal of this historic artefact has destroyed the integrity of the glass scheme designed specifically for this building.

Peter Aiers, Regional Director at The Churches Conservation Trust, said: ‘The Trust is devastated by the theft of a stunning and irreplaceable panel of Tudor stained glass from Withcote Chapel. The chapel is an important public building and a repository of history and art, and this is essentially a theft of public property.  This crime will be very much felt by the local community and marks a significant loss of our shared heritage. We will now do everything possible, working with Leicestershire Police and the local community, to recover this historic item.’

Should you have any information regarding the missing panel please contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111 or call 101, quoting crime reference number 16000 219189.

View the news release

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) has announced the launch of ‘BREXIT Digest’, a round-up of the latest news and views about Britain’s withdrawal from the EU and how this impacts upon the built environment professions, with an objective of sharing information to ensure mutual understanding of key issues.

See the issue 1 & issue 2

Read more….

The Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has announced that Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) (National Heritage Memorial Fund Lottery Distribution) annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2016, which reports ‘over 3,200 grant applications, requesting £929million… a very small reduction on the level received in 2014–15.’

HLF writes:

… Since the Lottery started in 1994, we have received over 70,000 applications requesting over £16.4billion. During that time, we have made over 48,000 awards to a value of £7.2billion.

During the year, we had over 3,200 grant applications, requesting £929million. This is a very small reduction on the level received in 2014–15 – a 2% drop in the value of applications. The number of applications received in the past two years is down on the peaks received in 2012–13 and 2013–14, but those years’ numbers were distorted by significant amounts of small applications

Read the UK Gov Report

Planning Portal has reported that the ‘straw bale house’ farmer who was the subject of planning enforcement has submitted a planning application for conversion works to grain silos on his land.

The application is entitled ‘Conversion of two grain silos, both substantial corrugated steel construction on reinforced concrete base foundations to two single storey studio apartments. To be clad in shiplaps weatherboarding and insulated, with the installation of windows, doors and insulated ceiling. Sited next to a building built in brick with a tiled roof in the style of a house’

Read more….

The members of the Northern Ireland (NI) Historic Building Council have been announced by Communities Minister Paul Givan, after an open competition.

The Northern Ireland Department for Communities writes:

Communities Minister Paul Givan MLA has announced the appointment of the following new Members to the Historic Building Council following open competition:

• Mr John Anderson
• Mr Ciaran Andrews
• Mrs Johanna Higgins
• Mr Erl Johnston
• Mr Paul Kendrick
• Mr Charles McMurray MBE
• Dr Tanja Poppelreuter

These seven appointments are with effect from 1 July 2016 until 30 June 2019.

He has also announced the appointment of the following new Members to the Historic Monuments Council following open competition:

• Miss Christina O’Regan
• Mr Robert Wilson

These two appointments are with effect from 1 July 2016 until 30 June 2021.

Welcoming the appointments, the Minister said: ‘I am delighted to make these appointments to the Historic Buildings Council and Historic Monuments Council. The individuals have a wealth of experience that will be of great assistance to both Councils, helping government maintain our built heritage for future generations, as well as allowing our assets to be positively developed to realise their full potential.’

View the news release

Karen Bradley, Culture Secretary gave her maiden speech at the Liverpool Philharmonic this week, mentioning the importance of the world heritage site designation (WHS) to Liverpool and the importance of ‘visiting ancient and beautiful places’ to the economy, aiming to make ‘arts and culture a central part of everyone’s life’.

View the full speech

£300,000 is available under two Scottish Government (SG) grant schemes which are designed to help local people have a say in the development of their community (the Design Charrettes programme and the Activating Ideas Fund).

The Scottish Government writes:

Communities across Scotland will have the chance to map out the future of their towns with design experts.  The Scottish Government is launching two funds to allow people to have a direct role in making their towns and villages better places to live.

Funding of £300,000 is available across two grant schemes – the Design Charrettes programme and the Activating Ideas Fund.  Charrettes bring together the public, stakeholders and designers over a number of days to draw up viable proposals, while the Activating Ideas fund will support participation and empowerment initiatives in disadvantaged areas.

Minister for Local Government Kevin Stewart said: ‘The quality of our places has an important influence on our lives. This Government is committed to empowering communities and involving them in the planning process.  We have already seen really good examples of this in the few years since the charrettes programme has been running. In Maybole the Community Association and Community Council sourced additional funding to modernise and improve access to the Town Hall gardens. And in Girvan there is a successful plan for a new swimming facility which is due to open in 2017 following the closure of the local pool.

‘Local communities have a wealth of knowledge about their local area. Bringing communities together with design expertise will enable ideas and proposals to be developed to deliver positive change. This initiative provides a way of enabling people across Scotland to have their say on the long- term future of their community.’

View the press release and read more….

A new £15 million grants scheme, Great Places, has been launched by the Arts Council England (ACE) to help civic organisations work together to help communities; with a deadline for Expressions of Interest of 6 October 2016 or full applications is 12 January 2017.

Arts Council England writes:

A £15 million scheme to help put culture at the heart of successful communities has been unveiled by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council. 

The Great Place Scheme – one of the flagship measures from the Government’s recently-published Culture White Paper – will pilot new approaches that enable cultural, community and civic organisations to work more closely together.

The aim of the scheme is that the considerable investment in culture made by organisations like Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Arts Council England has maximum positive impact on jobs, economic performance, educational attainment, community cohesion and health and wellbeing; and to persuade civic organisations and local businesses to invest in and put culture at the heart of their thinking.

Using funds raised by the National Lottery, the scheme will be piloted in 12 locations across England, and is likely to include everything from a city-wide scheme to a group of rural or coastal local authority areas.  Funding comes from HLF and the Arts Council, each of which will contribute £7.5 million for projects lasting up to three years.  There will also be complementary support from other organisations where relevant, such as Historic England through its Heritage Action Zone initiative.

Grants of between £500,000 and £1.5 million will fund a range of activities in the pilot areas. For example:

• new ways to include arts, culture and heritage in the provision of local education or health services;
• research into the contribution made by arts, culture and heritage to local economies;
• funding for people working in arts, culture and heritage to build networks and increase their skills;
• exploring and piloting new ways of financing cultural organisations;
• encouraging the use of existing powers that allow communities to support their local culture, such as the Community Right to Bid or listing local landmarks as Assets of Community Value; and
• development of local strategies that turn conversations and creation of networks into action to maximise the community benefit that local arts, culture and heritage can deliver.

Applications must come from partnerships, which are likely to include: arts and heritage organisations; community/voluntary groups; social enterprises; businesses; local authorities; parish councils; local economic partnerships; and other public sector organisations.  Single organisations cannot apply.

Read more…. and visit the Great Places Scheme website

The Court of Appeal has rejected the SAVE Britain’s Heritage application to prevent demolition works and planning permission going ahead in Lime Street, Liverpool in development that it describes as ‘an arch piece of civic vandalism’.

SAVE Britain’s Heritage writes:

SAVE Britain’s Heritage laments the hurried destruction of a fine piece of early cinema architecture, one of the grandest frontages of its kind to survive in England. In the annals of architectural history, this demolition is an arch piece of civic vandalism.

The imminent demolition works following the Court of Appeal decision are in our view a pre-emptive strike designed to prevent any further challenge.

The flanking historic terrace had a varied character typical of many English towns and cities, with lively commercial frontages and Georgian buildings dating back to 1780 which almost anywhere else in England would be retained. A slice of history is being completely truncated leaving two bookends with a wholly unsympathetic replacement.

These buildings on Lime Street in the buffer zone of the World Heritage Site are seen by everybody on their way to and from the station.  Liverpool continues to be at risk of losing its World Heritage status – and UNESCO has flagged concern about other large scale, high rise development in the buffer zone. That makes major demolition and development on the street a subject of national and international concern, and SAVE makes no apology for our involvement.

SAVE sought a constructive, swift solution to the Futurist and the Lime Street buildings from the start.  We invited the Council to engage in official mediation back in October last year. Unfortunately the Council refused that official mediation offer.

As a small organisation with very limited funds we do not take decisions to go to court lightly. This case has national and international significance, given Liverpool’s World Heritage status, and in a city with such a rich architectural heritage we were determined to make sure that the decision making process about such an important gateway site was robustly scrutinised. We pressed ahead with the Court of Appeal on the strength our own legal advice, and the indication from the Court that our case ‘had a very real chance of success’.

In granting us permission to appeal in May 2016, Judge Lord Justice Lindblom said ‘I accept that the appeal has a real prospect of success, and in any event that the matters raised on the interpretation and application of the guidance in paragraph 18A-036 of the Planning Practice Guidance are important enough to afford a compelling reason for the appeal to be heard’.

The basis of our challenge was the consultation notification process to the World Heritage Committee of a major demolition and re-development scheme in the buffer zone.  Saving the 1912 Futurist frontage was a central plank of our campaign. It is arguably the most architecturally significant facade in that block and there was considerable public support to save it.

SAVE was seeking a revised proposal which amongst other things would allow the group of frontages along Lime Street between the two magnificent pubs to be retained and restored alongside new development. Various on-line polls since last year showed that there is an overwhelming public desire to see these frontages retained.

We were supported in our campaign by Merseyside Civic Society, the Cinema Theatres Association and the Victorian Society, as well as over 4,000 people who signed a petition calling for the buildings to be saved. We were also supported by Professor John Belchem, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool University, Paula Ridley CBE, former chairman of Civic Voice and former chair of the V&A Museum, British screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce, writer of the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, and Liverpool born former Sex in the City star Kim Cattrall.

We argued throughout that the façade of the Futurist could be saved and demolition was not necessary.  We paid for our own structural report to investigate the possibility of retaining the façade carried out by leading conservation engineer Edward Morton. It showed how the façade needed only a minimal amount of stabilisation to make it safe without requiring expensive road closures. The Council ignored this advice and shut Lime Street to traffic for weeks.

In the end, far from being in a poor structural condition, an expert independent engineer‘s report, jointly funded by SAVE and the Council, found the façade of the former cinema on Lime Street to be structurally stable and the road was reopened immediately.  There is no reason why the façade of this grand building could not have been incorporated into the new development.

In our view the proposals on offer at Lime Street are monolithic, repetitive, and oversized. The existing buildings on the front site have been left to rot unnecessarily – but with maintenance and repair the frontages could be brought back to use as and provide a revitalised, appropriate setting to the World Heritage site and the listed Victorian pubs at either end of the street.  We showed through our alternative scheme how this could happen. We commissioned an architect’s scheme to show how hotel, student accommodation and shops – as proposed by the developers wishing to clear the site – could work on the site.  SAVE has done this many times before with success, as illustrated in our recently published book ‘Big Saves’.

We continue to believe the site has ample scope for new buildings at the rear without destroying the varied historic frontage, which includes the Futurist, Liverpool’s oldest cinema. With goodwill, a better solution could have been achieved, which successfully balanced both the respect for Liverpool’s world renowned heritage and the need for new development.

We salute the Council’s efforts to revitalise many of the historic buildings in Liverpool – and we have given Liverpool credit for this throughout our Lime Street campaign. We note Joe Anderson draws attention to particular buildings that have been saved and brought back into viable use: the Royal Insurance Building and Stanley Dock. SAVE welcomes this – these buildings were highlighted by SAVE back in 2009 as significant buildings under threat in our survey of Liverpool: ‘Triumph, Disaster and Decay’. Liverpool City Council knows well through experience that heritage-led regeneration can bring jobs, a boost to the local economy as well as maintaining and enhancing local character.

SAVE has had a long and positive history of involvement in Liverpool’s heritage stretching back 40 years. We have campaigned to save and reuse landmarks that were once under threat, such as the Albert Dock, St Francis Xavier’s church, the Lyceum, and more recently the Littlewoods Building, Granby and the Welsh Streets. We have invested in buying, renovating and reoccupying the last inhabited house in Madryn Street, and produced four publications on the city’s splendid architectural heritage.

In 2009 we staged an exhibition at the RIBA Gallery showcasing the city, and will continue to support Liverpool’s buildings at risk, working with Liverpool’s City Council where possible, but challenging them robustly where necessary. 

Read the nnews release