28 C O N T E X T 1 0 1 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 7 creating new-build dormitory towns. Mixed schemes helped to retain the soul and vitality of a community. The point is that some gentrification is essential. If there were no improvement in property and rental values, as a result of regeneration activity, could it really be considered to have been a success? Wholesale gentrification and mass displacement is a real danger, but gentrification itself is not the problem; it is the scale of it that needs to be monitored. The question of displacement is interesting too. In deprived areas, the so-called indigenous population has often incrementally displaced previous residents, or at least replaced them as they moved away. Urban centres are dynamic and constantly changing. Felicity Goodey finished the question session by contrasting the ‘real’ rural villages of France with the purpose-built, ex-patriot urbanisms on the Costa Brava, to support the idea of creating mixed developments and rooting regeneration in heritage. The alternative to real places was creating ‘over-priced rabbit hutches,’ she said. Keith Parsons New directions for Building Preservation Trusts Kate Dickson, director, HeritageWorks One of the most direct ways in which local people have been able to engage in caring for the historic environment, up to now, is by joining a building preservation trust (BPT). Kate Dickson is a director of a trust which certainly knows how ‘heritage works’. Having started life in Manchester as the Ancoats Building Preservation Trust (ABPT), HeritageWorks is now looking to operate in the wider north-west region, but still within its traditional remit as ‘developer of last resort’. What Kate Dickson wanted to make us think about was where BPTs were now and how they should be getting the job done in the future. An outline of the role played by building preservation trusts was a useful beginning. Dickson explained that members of trusts are literally charitable property developers, motivated by their love of the built heritage rather than by profit and usually tackling buildings at risk, because these have repair costs which are uneconomic for the private sector. Trusts may be set up to rescue a specific building or to take on historic building repair projects one at a time, ploughing any surplus back into the next scheme.The latter are known as revolving fund trusts. When Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) money became available in the mid 1990s, special provision was made so that, unlike other bodies, these BPTs could dispose of their restored assets to ensure that their funds kept on revolving. All was well until recently, but it has become apparent that two things are beginning to change. After more than a decade of improved funding opportunities and increased BPT activity, the number of available smallscale schemes has diminished, leaving mainly larger projects which are, of course, more time-consuming. In addition, the rules for obtaining HLF money have been getting more complex, with the result that many BPTs need to employ full time staff. Having invested in their skills they want to retain them. Where is the money to come from? For Dickson, the Ancoats and Heritage Works BPTs are prime examples. ABPT was set up in 1995 as one of the agencies (Ancoats Urban Village Company was another) designed to tackle the dereliction of the area, which is often referred to as the world’s first industrial suburb – where workers lived alongside early cotton mills. In 1996 the trust acquired its first derelict building in the area, St Peter’s Church, from Manchester City Council on a long lease for £1. It undertook an enveloping scheme in 1998 using HLF and NorthWest Development Agency (NWDA) money to halt the dry rot, and the following year submitted a stage 1 bid to the HLF. After three years further hard work it was given a stage 2 award of nearly £1 million by the HLF, with further funding provided by NWDA. Dickson glossed over the accidental extinguishment of the lease which was covered by NWDA, and rightly focused on the successfully completed project. ABPT has been in discussion with potential users, although disappointingly the Embroiders’ Guild is no longer considering St Peter’s Church (top) and Murray’s Mills (below) are both key to the character of Ancoats and were saved by Ancoats BPT. IHBC Annual School 2007 IHBC Annual School 2007 IHBC Annual School 2007
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