{"id":29885,"date":"2021-05-04T16:29:02","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T15:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=29885"},"modified":"2021-05-04T16:29:02","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T15:29:02","slug":"aberdeen-lodges-appeal-against-decision-to-protect-tower-blocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=29885","title":{"rendered":"Aberdeen lodges appeal against decision to protect tower blocks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Aberdeen City Council\u2019s appeal against a decision to award protected status to eight blocks of 1960s high-rise flats has now reached the Scottish Government.<\/h3>\n
image: HES website<\/em><\/h6>\n

<\/p>\n

Scottish Construction Now<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n

[Council said]…decision would hamper its efforts to modernise the buildings….<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

…(HES) granted A-listed status … the eight towering examples of post-war architecture …. help tell the story of Scotland…<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

Historic Environment Scotland\u00a0(HES)\u00a0granted A-listed status back in January<\/a>\u00a0to Gilcomstoun Land, Porthill Court, Seamount Court, Virginia Court, Marischal Court, Thistle Court, Hutcheon Court, and Greig Court on the basis that the\u00a0eight towering examples of post-war architecture, which have dominated the skyline of the granite city for 60 years, help tell the story of Scotland.<\/p>\n

Aberdeen City Council described the listing at the time as \u201csimply ridiculous\u201d and said the decision would hamper its efforts to modernise the buildings. Residents are also concerned the status will prevent them from making the simplest improvements to their homes.<\/p>\n

Having\u00a0sought legal advice<\/a>\u00a0for the possibility of a judicial review, the local authority has now lodged an appeal with the Scottish Government, giving ten reasons it believes the buildings should not have enhanced protection.<\/p>\n

It has asked theDirectorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals\u00a0(DPEA) to consider the appeals collectively.<\/p>\n

Through its lawyers\u00a0Montagu Evans LLP, the council said: \u201cThe essence of this appeal is that the listing is unwarranted on numerous grounds. These objections are reinforced by a consultation exercise which produced a support rate of under 0.5 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time when tower blocks across Britain are under particular scrutiny following the Grenfell Tower tragedy of 2017, the mass listing of eight blocks seems perverse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is even more surprising when they are under active consideration for insulation works to improve their efficiency, something which listing may frustrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter added:\u00a0\u201cIt is the appellant\u2019s submission that the multi-storey flats fail to meet the listing criteria, both individually and as a group.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, there are other material grounds which are wholly relevant in the determination of this appeal and ought to be considered by Scottish Ministers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe appellant submits these grounds are significant and should be weighed against the multi-storey flat\u2019s inclusion on the list. It is also material that there is significant stakeholder support\u2026 including from MSPs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe appellant therefore invites the Scottish Ministers to conclude the flats should be removed from the List and uphold each of the individual appeals.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for HES said: \u201cIn January, HES listed eight multi-storey buildings in Aberdeen at Category A in recognition of their outstanding architectural and historic interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware Aberdeen City Council are appealing the decision to list these buildings. The appeals are now with the DPEA division of the Scottish Government, and we await their decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aberdeen City Council\u2019s appeal against a decision to award protected status to eight blocks of 1960s high-rise flats has now reached the Scottish Government. image: HES website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29885"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29887,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29885\/revisions\/29887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}