Context 166 - November 2020

C O N T E X T 1 6 6 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 0 3 Homes Grants and the revised EPC, noting that these are the opposite of joined-up government, citing high risks of unintended consequences (as highlighted in the NEA’s Learning lessons from Fishwyck seminar – (www.youtube. com/watch?v=AogoixJAyZs), and attaching its proposal (https://stbauk.org/wp-content/ uploads/2020/08/EPCs-EER- to-EIR.pdf) to change the key EPC indicator to the EIR. Hopes that the government might address the serious flaws of EPCs appear to have been dashed in their (long-overdue) response to the 2018 Call for Evidence, just published at www.gov.uk/government/ consultations/energy-performance- certificates-in-buildings-call- for-evidence.We wait to see whether the Environmental Audit Committee will take up the cudgels. Meanwhile, the private rented sector consultation on improving energy efficiency of existing buildings is now live at www.gov. uk/government/consultations/ improving-the-energy-performance- of-privately-rented-homes, with a closing date of 20 December. I urge Context readers to respond to this. Lastly, the updated Gap Analysis on Performance and Energy Efficiency of Traditional Buildings, mentioned in my previous briefing ( Context 165, May 2020) is now published. John Preston, heritage chair, Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance Heritage by foot David Harrison writes: In 1854, 400,000 people walked into the City of London every day. These walks were not the final leg of a journey from a mainline station: they were the entire commute. Londoners and visitors to it still love to walk, but we walk much shorter distances. The average walk-all-the-way trip across London is less than 1 kilometre. This has to change. Walking more and further is critical to tackle our health, pollution and climate crises, to avoid contagion and to relieve pressure on roads and public transport. London Living Streets and Urban Good, with funding fromTransport for London, has launched Central London Footways: a printed and online map that will prompt Londoners and visitors to walk longer distances (20 to 30 minutes) on everyday journeys. The map connects London’s important destinations, mainline stations and green spaces. This is about getting people from A to B, but in the most enjoyable and healthy way possible. What will be especially pleasing to Context readers is that the network of routes will take them along historic streets, avoiding polluted, often Victorian, main roads, and providing wonderful views of the capital’s many remarkable buildings. The map also aims to create new ways of looking at walking. It shows how quickly journeys can be walked: Euston to the British Museum through leafy Bloomsbury in 19 minutes, compared to 17 minutes by taxi and 16 by public transport. It seeks to join up the many new public realm improvements, for example fromTrafalgar Square to the Museum via low-traffic Seven Dials and traffic-free Princes’ Circus. Footways will make sure Londoners make the most of these transformations. And the map aims to encourage exploration on foot of streets containing thousands of listed buildings as part of day-to-day journeys. For a digital version of the map, and to find out where to obtain a free copy, see https://footways.london/. David Harrison, vice chair, London Living Streets Prosecutions data, please Bob Kindred writes: Several case outcomes have recently added to the IHBC’s National Database of Listed Building Prosecutions from sources other than the local planning authority, as the institute had not been notified directly. It is possible that the council concerned was unaware of the database, despite it having been established 24 years ago, with details of hundreds of case sentences. It is accessible online at www.ihbc.org.uk/resources_ head/index.html and https:// ihbconline.co.uk/prosecutions/. Notifying the IHBC helps us to obtain feedback, particularly when the fines levied were considered low in relation to the seriousness of the offence.We can often also establish whether the local planning authority’s legal officers and/or the courts were aware of the database and/or Historic England’s Heritage Crime Guidance for Sentencers (2017), especially as the latter unfortunately does not cross-refer to the former. Local authorities using these resources tell us that prosecution cases were better served and better The Central London Footways map introduces walkers to a network of routes along historic streets.