IHBC NewsBlog Archive

If you work inside or use conservation services in England’s Local Authorities (LAs), please take a few minutes to help the IHBC guide English Heritage on the services’ most important skills needs by filling out our survey and by passing this link on to colleagues and friends.

IHBC Director Sean O’Reilly said: ’This is a great opportunity for everyone who knows our work to help shape English Heritage’s local authority skills support. Early career conservation training in local authorities has been decimated by recent cutbacks, which makes it all the more important that you help us shape skills needs and priorities for the future by doing this survey.’

‘So please take a few minutes to fill in the survey, and help us shape a better future for conservation skills support and funding’.

Fiona Newton, IHBC’s Projects Officer writes:
‘What conservation skills should local authorities have? What skills do they have already and what might need developing? Whether you are a local authority conservation officer, someone working in private practice, an applicant or property owner or an amenity society volunteer now is your chance to let us know.

The IHBC is helping English Heritage look at skills for local authority conservation services, and we have launched this survey as part of that work. The results of the survey will feed into Heritage Counts 2013 on heritage skills, and help us understand where skills gaps exist. Perhaps more importantly, it will also highlight preferred ways of developing skills.’

‘The survey itself is short and simple, but the results are critical! It will not take much of your time while your contribution will help us make a difference!.

To help with this work please go to: LINK

To find our more about the issues and opportunities around skills in the sector come to the IHBC’s Annual School in June: http://ihbc.org.uk/carlisle2013/

The IHBC has supported the recent response by the The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) to the threats of recession as each argue that government should ‘target maintenance and repair’ to avoid recession and drive growth.

Speaking about the latest Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures Judy Lowe, Deputy Chairman of CITB, said: ‘The news that Britain has narrowly avoided a triple dip recession is scant comfort to the construction industry… we now need immediate investment in repair and maintenance projects… every £100m invested in repair and maintenance takes 3,200 unemployed construction workers off Job Seekers Allowance’.

IHBC Director Seán O’Reilly said: ‘Its great to hear CITB and ourselves pushing the same message to government, and with the statistics now available to show how maintenance is a viable growth strategy, it’s an iron-clad case. Maintenance is a ‘shovel-ready’ growth programme!’

‘Given the traditional construction used in many of the buildings that might be targeted, if we can all just get the right skills balance between industry and building stock, then we’d save money on the Green Deal too!’

CITB writes:
‘The industry is in a glacial depression. With our Construction Skills Network data showing 60,000 jobs lost in 2012 and a 8 per cent drop in output, it is essential that this key driver of economic growth gets the immediate boost it needs to kick start activity.

‘The Government has responded positively to our industry-led Construction4Growth campaign. The pre-budget announcements on housing are welcome but we now need immediate investment in repair and maintenance projects.’

‘The figures speak for themselves: every £100m invested in repair and maintenance takes 3,200 unemployed construction workers off Job Seekers Allowance. Plus it boosts local and national economies. Our message to Government is ‘back construction now and reap the rewards of economic growth’.

CITB News: LINK

Students, staff and colleagues from all taught-courses are reminded that the closing date of 31 July is approaching for the IHBC’s Gus Astley Annual Student Award, which is presented for exceptional work selected from any discipline that looks at the understanding, care or improvement of places of any type.

IHBC Director Sean O’Reilly said: ’With cash prizes of up to £300 and the chance to attend the IHBC’s 2014 Annual School in Edinburgh for free, where we’ll explore the ‘Art of Conservation’, this is too good a chance to miss. And all you need do is upload a digital copy of your best course work from the last two years to us by 31 July! It couldn’t be easier to win prestige as well as cash, and learn more about the IHBC and our work too!’

To find out more about this great opportunity, students can simply follow the Awards links using our mobile-friendly IHBC ‘Webstarter’, linked from our home page, or go straight to the mobile-friendly Awards web site at gasa.ihbc.org.uk’.

For the 2012 Student Award winners and their prizes see the NewsBlog at: LINK

For background to the IHBC’s 2013 Annual School, in Carlisle, at which the 2012 winners will be presented with their awards, see: http://ihbc.org.uk/carlisle2013/

The Financial Times (FT) has looked to heritage and conservation specialist & media commentator Dan Cruickshank to provide leading critical commentary on a development opportunity for British Land to link between the City of London and Tower Hamlets.

As a sign of the increasing centrality of heritage and conservation expertise to mainstream development, Cruickshank highlighted a key issue for planning conservation in an early report by the FT, saying: ‘Whatever is agreed on the site, it is vital that it is not just an extension of the existing Broadgate Estate and, therefore, the City’s continued march northward’.

To find out more about how to develop conservation skills, knowledge and understanding, regardless of your specialist background, come to the IHBC’s 2013 Annual School in Carlisle.

See the report at: LINK

A bid by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) to mount a challenge to Cambridge City Council’s interim planning policy guidance on the protection of pubs has failed.

At issue was guidance adopted by the city council in 2012 that set out how applicants should justify their proposals for change of use, conversion or redevelopment of pub sites.

The BBPA argued that the council failed to follow procedure for the development of policy. But its application for judicial review has been turned down.

Search Planning Portal: LINK

England’s Arts Council has published an independent report, conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), that suggests that arts and culture make up 0.4 per cent of GDP.

The Arts Council writes:
The report uses a methodology applied regularly by the Office for National Statistics and recognised by leading economists, and is the first comprehensive analysis to determine this value to the modern economy on a national scale.

The key findings include:

· arts and culture make up 0.4 per cent of *GDP – a significant return on the less than 0.1 per cent of government spending invested in the sector

· arts and culture is a sector of significant scale with a turnover of £12.4 billion and a GVA** of £5.9 billion in 2011

· arts and culture generate more per pound invested than the health, wholesale and retail, and professional and business services sectors

· the arts and culture sector provides 0.45 per cent of total UK employment and 0.48 per cent of total employment in England

· at least £856 million per annum of spending by tourists visiting the UK can be attributed directly to arts and culture

· the economic contribution of the arts and cultural sector has grown since 2008, despite the UK economy as a whole remaining below its output level before the global financial crisis.

Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England said: ‘We fund arts and culture because it has a unique ability to fire our imaginations, to inspire and entertain us. The contribution culture makes to our quality of life, as a society and as individuals, will always be our primary concern.

‘But at a time when public finances are under such pressure, it is also right to examine all the benefits that investment in arts and culture can bring – and to consider how we can make the most effective use of that contribution.’

The Arts Council will now consider with its partners and the arts and cultural organisations it funds how best to capitalise on the strengths the CEBR report underlines – particularly in the areas of cultural education, in driving tourism, cultural exports and the sector’s contribution to growth in the creative industries.

Download the report and the Arts Council’s response at: LINK

Arts Council News: LINK

Only 15 per cent of respondents to the England government’s consultation on extending permitted development rights agreed that homeowners should be allowed to build larger extensions without the need for planning permission.

Search Planning Resource: LINK

A deputy High Court Judge has ruled that the St Ives West Urban Design Framework, prepared by Huntingdonshire District Council, is unlawful following a legal challenge by Houghton and Wyton Parish Council as the parish council succeeded in persuading the High Court that the UDF should have been prepared as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

The UDF contained guidance for a development area of 500 new homes, and a large new country park area planned as an urban extension of St Ives which the parish council opposes.

Malcolm Sharp, Huntingdonshire’s managing director and current president of the Planning Officer’s Society, said: ‘The principle of development in this area is already set in our adopted Core Strategy and the district council is expecting a planning application at any time.

‘Obviously it is disappointing that, on a complex point of procedural law, our efforts to provide positive planning guidance for the established growth area to the west of St Ives have been undermined.

‘However, we are considering an appeal as we are of the view that the judgement undermines our ability to plan effectively and positively for our community – and has potentially wide ranging implications for other authorities.’

Search Planning Portal: LINK

Architecture is to keep its creative label but crafts will no longer be considered part of the creative industries under proposals published by the UK government, with a consultation closing date of 14 June.

The proposed change is part of a review of the UK’s creative industries set out in ’Classifying and Measuring the Creative Industries’, a consultation paper released by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

For the paper see: LINK

BD online Article: LINK

See Vaizey’s blog announcement at: LINK

de zeen magazine article: LINK

UK Government Consultations: LINK

Homeowners should stop objecting to development and instead have ‘constructive rows’ with officials to ensure better housing is built in the countryside, the planning minister Nick Boles has said’.

Telegraph Article: LINK

Schools across England which previously could not afford to travel to the country’s greatest historic sites can now do so, thanks to a new scheme made possible by donations to English Heritage (EH).

EH writes
From Stonehenge to Hadrian’s Wall, admission to the 400 plus sites in the National Heritage Collection has always been free for schools but for some, the cost of hiring a coach was a significant obstacle. Now, the English Heritage History Bus scheme will go a long way to removing that barrier.

The new free school bus scheme is open to non-fee paying English primary and secondary schools. More than 10,000 schools are eligible to apply and 30,000 children will benefit from the scheme this year. The scheme is expected to cover the cost of approximately 7,500 coaches per year.

English Heritage Chief Executive, Simon Thurley, said: ‘People are more likely to visit historic sites if they first visited them as a child. The sites in the National Heritage Collection are free to all schools but the cost of actually getting to them is beyond the reach of many. Our History Bus scheme changes all that and it means that more teachers and children can get out of their classrooms and visit the places where history was made.’

Children can get out of their classrooms and visit the places where history was made.

The English Heritage free school bus scheme is funded by donations and legacies received by the English Heritage Foundation which helps to raise money for the properties and collections in English Heritage’s care and to enhance the public’s enjoyment and understanding of them. Any donations and bequests made to the Foundation go directly to support and enhance our National Collection of historic sites.

James Twining, Chair of the English Heritage Foundation, said: ‘The Foundation is committed to nurturing a passion for heritage and making English Heritage sites accessible to a wider range of visitors. Our free school bus scheme is an important step in helping us achieve this aim and we wish to thank our donors whose generosity has made this possible.’

To book a free education visit to an English Heritage site and avail of the free school bus scheme, please contact English Heritage Education on 0870 3330606 or at bookeducation@english-heritage.org.uk

English Heritage News: LINK

Huffington Post Article: LINK

An Inspector appointed by the Welsh Ministers has dismissed an appeal on a retrospective application for external insulation on an unlisted cottage on the basis that ‘the installation of the insulation has significantly adversely affected the distinctive appearance and architectural integrity of the terrace’.

The Inspector also noted that:
‘Photographs show that prior to the insulation being installed the appeal property had an exposed stonework wall finish and traditional window cills. These features would have contributed significantly to the building’s traditional vernacular character. In contrast, because of its thickness, it is now apparent that a non-traditional external wall treatment has been applied. As the traditional cills have either been removed or covered by the thickness of the insulation the vernacular appearance of the window openings has been lost. Whilst the cream colour does not look out of place, the self-coloured render is smooth and modern in appearance.’

The Inspector went on to observe:
‘Neighbours’ concerns about the effect of the insulation on the breathability of the traditional stone walls are supported to an extent by Welsh Office Circular 61/96: Planning and the Historic Environment: Historic Buildings and Conservation Areas, the Appendix to Annex D of which advises that non-porous coatings can form a barrier which prevents moisture trapped within walls from evaporating, leading to problems arising from damp. However, the performance and suitability of the particular system installed in this instance is a matter principally for the installer. It is therefore not a consideration that has influenced my decision.’

To download the report go to: ow.ly/d/1b4e

New items have been added to the IHBC’s ‘Awards, placements & bursaries etc’ web page, a leading pan-sector resource that also posts opportunities for those in the early stages of developing skills or learning – ‘early-skills’ – in any aspects of buildings or places, their care, understanding, management and improvement.

IHBC Director Seán O’Reilly said: ‘On offer just now are two more opportunities with the timber frame specialists responsible for the Globe Theatre, McCurdy and Co. These have been notified to us by Graham Lee at the Building Crafts College (BCC), and are for structural carpentry bursary training. But it’s a wide-ranging resource, and also current are RIBA awards and the IHBC’s own Annual Student Award for 2013!’

‘So don’t forget to check out this critical resource. It’s a great resource for anyone with early career interests in any aspects of historic and built places. And do remember that it is developing as a full database, so you will be able to check back through earlier opportunities to see if any have been re-opened in later years!’

IHBC member Graham Lee is a regional co-ordinator with the National Heritage Training Group (NHTG), the lead body overseeing the delivering of key craft skills under the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Skills for the Future training scheme.

Graham writes:
We hope that the Building Traditional Skills bursary funded training opportunities might be of interest to current or recently past carpentry students who wish to advance their training in structural carpentry.

The placements are initially at McCurdy and Co workshops in Berkshire and then on the Jacobean Wannamaker theatre adjacent to the Globe in Southwark, London.

Please circulate the information as widely as possible, to relevant current contacts and anyone else you think might be interested in these opportunities to train in Traditional Heritage Craft Skills.

For the NHTG see www.nhtgskills.org

For the HLF see www.hlf.org.uk

For the IHBC’s Annual Student Award see: http://gasa.ihbc.org.uk/

For McCurdy and Co see: www.mccurdyco.com

Details in terms of Person, Placement Specifications and Application forms are downloadable from: LINK

See the Building Crafts College (BCC) website at www.thebcc.ac.uk