C O N T E X T 1 2 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 3 by English Heritage, identifies barriers to participation for minority ethnic groups in education, volunteer schemes and the workforce. The report makes a number of recommendations to overcome diversity issues through better data collection, greater profiling of ethnic minority involvement, and improvement in recruitment processes and professional practices. Piece Hall success The scheme to transform Halifax’s Piece Hall, featured in the previous issue of Context (July), has been awarded £7 million in Heritage Lottery funding. The complex, opened in 1779 for the trading of ‘pieces’ of cloth, was saved from demolition in the 1960s by one vote of the then town council. Margate dreams on Thanet District Council has received approval for the compulsory purchase of a site in Margate that it says will become the site of the world’s first amusement park of historic rides. The council claims to have spent more than £1 million on carrying out urgent repairs to the Dreamland site’s neglected heritage assets. The Dreamland Trust is working in partnership with the council to create an amusement park of historic rides, classic side shows, vintage cafes, restaurants and gardens. Events and festivals are planned to celebrate popular and youth culture heritage. The Dreamland Trust emerged from the Save Dreamland Campaign to rescue the park from redevelopment into housing and retail units. The site’s heritage assets include the 1920 Scenic Railway, a Grade II* listed structure which is the UK’s oldest roller coaster; a 1935 2,200 seat Grade II* listed cinema building; and Lord George Sanger’s Grade II-listed menagerie cages, dating from the 1800s, believed to be the last of their kind. The Dreamland Margate project is partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the DCMS Sea Change programme. Culture counts TheWorld Cities Culture Report, commissioned by the Mayor of London, examines the culture of 12 cities (Berlin, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Mumbai, NewYork, Paris, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo). It concludes that world cities are as important in cultural terms as they are in terms of finance or trade. New porches at Ripon Ripon Cathedral in NorthYorkshire has reopened its doors on completion of the Narthex Project. A programme of works has involved the installation of new glass porches, with engravings by artist Sally Scott, depicting scenes from the life of St Wilfrid, founder of the cathedral. The design was by Caroe Architecture and the contractor was William Anelay. St Wilfrid (c634–709) brought craftsmen from Europe to build a new stone church on the site. It was dedicated to St Peter in 672, although only the Saxon crypt survives from this period. Parts of the present building date back to the 1100s. Fantasy for sale A Grade I listed house in Lavenham, Suffolk, which was used to create the fictional village of Godric’s Hollow in the film of ‘Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows’, is for sale. A number of different shots of the building, de Vere House, were combined to represent an entire village. The house is said to be (after 10 Downing Street) the second most photographed doorway in Britain. Managing consent The recent consultation on proposals to improve listed building consent, led by the Department of Culture Media and Sport, was met by a hardhitting response from the IHBC (www.ihbc.org.uk/consultations/docs/ PDF/lbc/IHBC%20response.pdf). The institute discussed the process of managing consent, in particular the need to have access to practical conservation skills in line with the IHBC’s membership criteria, and the value of good conservation services. A range of other organisations made substantial and informed statements. Here is a selection of some of them: Joint Committee of National Amenity Societies We continue to feel that the most objective source of advice to a local planning authority is that given by an in-house conservation officer. Many of these will have been in post for years and possess an intimate knowledge of their local area and buildings. Conservation officers also have a vital role in many other ways – offering advice to owners, preparing conservation area appraisals, drawing up supplementary guidance. Limiting their role in development control, as this proposal would do, would further discourage local planning authorities from employing such officers at a time when they are already under threat as a result of public spending cuts. The third of local planning authorities who do not have any in-house conservation expertise would have even less reason to remedy that serious failing. Royal Town Planning Institute Those responsible for this consultation should understand that, in noting that 95 per cent of English Heritage sampled applications were approved, it is not implied that these applications were pointless or timewasting; it more likely indicates that the listed building consent system is well understood, that local authority expert advice is well-directed and positive, and that the public interest is well served by the process that encourages sound proposals. It is to be regretted that within the outlining of these proposals it is implied that the services provided by conservation professionals within local planning authorities might readily and beneficially be replaced by accredited experts funded by applicants. It is inevitable that many independent experts (including English Heritage) will rely on and have good reason to trust the local knowledge and understanding of context that will rest with the local planning authority staff. CivicVoice Most local authority planning departments employ at least one full-time conservation officer, and some larger authorities employ several. These officers have built up an extensive knowledge of the listed buildings and conservation areas in their district, and their experience is valuable and hard to replace. Smaller authorities that do not employ a full-time conservation officer and rely on part-time outside assistants should be required to comply with the requirements of the planning act by considering employing full-time staff but by sharing employees with an adjoining authority. It would continue to ensure
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