Context 160 - July 2019

C O N T E X T 1 6 0 : J U L Y 2 0 1 9 5 ‘THE MONEY we invest each year, around £200 million, is raised through the sale of National Lottery tickets.We think it’s important that you know exactly where the money comes from. ‘By aligning our brand more closely with the National Lottery, we hope it will help players better understand the difference they make when they buy a ticket.’ The National Lottery Heritage Fund explaining why it has changed its name from the Heritage Lottery Fund. ‘THERE HAS been a steady stream of owners determined to clear their sites for development who have seized the opportunity to pre-empt any listing. Lamentably, ministers have failed to honour their promises to rebalance the situation. ‘The obvious and simple remedy is that as soon as an owner receives notice that his or her building is under consideration for listing, they are also told it is under the same protection as a listed building until a decision is taken. ‘This system is in operation in Wales with no reports of specific criticism or objection. The owner anyway has the opportunity to apply for a certificate of immunity against listing giving them a guarantee of no further listing requests for up to five years.’ Marcus Binney of SAVE Britain’s Heritage on the danger of pre- emptive demolition of buildings under consideration for spot listing ‘YOUR leading article on the need to renovate the Palace ofWestminster asserts that demolition of SirWilliam Whitfield’s Richmond House is a necessary sacrifice because it “has no great aesthetic merit, symbolic value or public standing”. Many strongly disagree. The C20 Society, SAVE Britain’s Heritage and government’s own advisers, Historic England, all think it is a really important public building. Richmond House can and should be kept, and the Commons should be provided with a temporary home elsewhere (there are several possible options). ‘Most importantly, the architectural and historic interest of Richmond House was assessed just three and a half years ago, and it was listed at Grade II*. This means that the government knows it is of “outstanding” significance. ‘Richmond House was condemned “on the grounds that it would cause the least disruption and was likely to be the most cost effective”. The purpose of identifying buildings by listing is to make sure that owners think laterally and come up with imaginative alternative solutions to demolishing them. Government makes all other owners do this, but is giving Parliament an easy ride, and squandering an irreplaceable part of our recent heritage.’ Catherine Croft, director of the Twentieth Century Society in a letter to The Times ‘WHILE THE list will almost certainly be contested, that discussion is exactly this project’s intended purpose. The objective is not to create a perfect list of Edinburgh buildings but instead to promote a discussion that will hopefully energise people to reflect on their city as well as garner their interest in it, and the Cockburn’s work. ‘Ten buildings are not nearly enough to cover the vast and intricate history of Edinburgh, but we believe this list creates a broad framework through which further projects can be based: St Margaret’s Chapel; Gladstone’s Land; City Chambers; University of Edinburgh, Old College; Baron Ord’s House, 8 Queen Street; suburban villas; Victorian tenements; bungalows; Cables Wynd; and the Museum of Scotland.’ The Cockburn Association announcing its list of Ten Buildings that Define Edinburgh and encouraging people to submit their own ‘THE VICTORIAN Society recognises the need for regeneration and economic development but strongly believe this can be secured without damaging the precious and finite historic environment.’ TomTaylor, conservation adviser for the Victorian Society, criticising a planned 33 storey-block in Sheffield’s proposed Castlegate conservation area, and the council’s recent decision to demolish the city’s coroner’s court building. Gladstone’s Land: quintessential Edinburgh (Photo: Kim Traynor, Wikimedia)