6 C O N T E X T 1 4 5 : J U LY 2 0 1 6 Periodically Since the passing of the Theatres Trust Act 1976, the Theatres Trust has played a crucial role as a statutory consultee on planning applications for development involving land on which there is a theatre or where planning proposals would have an impact on theatre use. This may not always have involved heritage assets, but the trust’s unwavering aim has been to ensure access to high-quality buildings and to champion the future of live theatre through protecting theatre buildings. The trust is marking its 40th anniversary by giving a new look to TM, the trust’s magazine. The spring 2016 issue explains to readers not only the trust’s most notable achievements, but also its new strategy and how it will play its part in protecting live theatre over the next 40 years. Chair Tim Eyles provides an excellent resume of what has happened since the trust was required to be formally consulted on planning proposals. He notes that as the number of statutory consultations has grown decade by decade, so have the variety of ways in which many planning outcomes have been successfully influenced. The trust’s planning advisor Ross Anthony notes that over 800 theatres were lost across the UK between 1914 and 1980. He provides a valuable guide to how the trust approaches theatre protection under the planning system, stemming from the 1976 Act but also involving changes brought about by the 1977 GPDO; revisions to the Use Classes Order 1987; and the trust’s involvement in ensuring that local development plans have appropriate policies for theatres under the provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Claire Appleby, the architectural advisor, provides an update on the trust’s specialist at-risk register, highlighting 31 vulnerable theatre buildings kept constantly under review. She explains particular initiatives in hand to bring some of theatres back to life, including viability studies (for the Burnley Empire); the Coastal Revival Fund (Brighton Hippodrome); Heritage Lottery Fund start-up funding (Derby Hippodrome); business case support (Dudley Hippodrome); and theatre planning and technical advice (Spilsby Theatre). Readers may recall an earlier column in which I highlighted the trust’s identification of a great swathe of theatres at risk across the North in what has since been dubbed the Northern Powerhouse. Cultural investment in the repair and refurbishment of these theatres could be part of that renaissance. The latest issue of the excellent Association of Preservation Technology Bulletin (Vol XLVII, No 1, 2016) is a special issue on climate change and preservation technology. Two papers will be of particular interest to UK readers. A well-illustrated paper by Peter Curtis looks at the results of changing weather patterns in Scotland and the increased effect of water flow on building fabric where traditional buildings are showing greater signs of damp and physical damage (notwithstanding Scotland having always to contend with demanding weather conditions in the past). The author discusses changes in weather patterns, the detailing of traditional buildings, traditional materials and water vapour movement, and adaptation through better rainwater disposal in the light of even greater pressures on building fabric in the future and the need for increased resilience. A paper by Peter and Caroline Brimblecombe looks at preventive conservation in non-mechanically ventilated historic interiors. The authors suggest approaches aimed at reducing the damage from climate change, particularly where such buildings are located in polluted urban environments, and contain valuable furnishings and historic collections. Taking as its starting point the IPCC’s 2014 Climate Change Synthesis Report, the paper examines the effects on changing indoor climates and changes in indoor damage. The authors note that it might be easy to imagine that interiors are largely insulated against climate change because they are designed with the aim of protection from the ravages of the weather, but often there is little active climate control. The paper goes on to look at the effects of temperature; relative humidity cycles; temperature effects on mould and insects; and changes in air composition and temperature caused by visitors. The authors conclude with some valuable pointers about managing long-term change, particularly around
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