6 C O N T E X T 1 7 3 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 ‘RENOVATING a Grade II-listed property comes with challenges. “We were allowed to update the kitchen and bathroom, but there were weird things we couldn’t do, like change the 1990s skirting boards,” says Maria. ‘One of the couple’s main goals was to create a “healthy” home: they avoided “modern” materials such as PVA glue, cement and MDF, using locally sourced timber and lime instead.’ Weird indeed. Kate Jacobs reports in the Guardian on how a couple restored a 300-year-old fishing cottage in Deal, Kent ‘PROGRESS is not only unacceptably slow, but the likely start date for major works has been pushed back by many years because of repeated attempts to revisit the basis of the programme. ‘Recent decisions to remove the sponsor body have created significant uncertainty and value-for-money risk. Nugatory spending, including £140 million to install temporary fire-safety systems, is already evident. ‘Although some urgent works could be undertaken earlier, there is still no clear indication of when major works may start.’ The Public Accounts Committee reporting that uncertainty over the restoration of the Palace of Westminster has caused more than £200 million of unnecessary spending ‘SELL IT. It could become a tourist attraction, or a grand hotel, or a museum, or a combination. Thousands of new jobs, millions of tourists, and the sale alone would raise billions… ‘Meanwhile build a new parliament near the centre of the nation – Sheffield, maybe, or Manchester. The money from selling Westminster would fund it. A new building, plus reforms. Scrap all the 17th century nonsense, the wigs, the black rods, the stockings and prancing around… ‘Of all the comparable large economies, we are the most centralised, and the worst governed. It’s frankly insane that we’ve become this way, and the idea that we should throw £20 billion at Westminster Palace to keep things that way is demented. Time for major reform.’ Russ Jones on Twitter @RussinCheshire on the future of the Palace ofWestminster ‘I COULD not be prouder of Lewes Town Council, Friends of Lewes and Lewes Conservation Area Advisory Group, all independently proposing the refusal of uPVC windows in conservation areas even when improving the fenestration details. Ugly and unsustainable.’ Tanya Szendeffy on Twitter @TanyaSzendeffy ‘THE PROPOSAL identifies York’s outstanding universal value as being the outstanding example in north-west Europe of urban development that commences in the Roman period and continues from 71 AD as a living city, down to the present day.’ John Oxley,York’s former city archaeologist, on the city’s latest attempt to become a Unesco world heritage site, focusing on its historic centre, listed buildings and conservation areas ‘WE ARE committed to retaining and explaining our heritage so people can examine all parts of Britain’s history and understand our shared past.’ A DCMS spokesperson explaining the decision by culture secretary Nadine Dorries to grant listed status to a plaque commemorating Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford, against the advice of Historic England ‘LUCKILY, most of us don’t get our history from statues or plaques.’ KimWagner, professor of imperial history at Queen Mary University of London, commenting on Dorries’ decision ‘IT HAS BEEN largely unused for the past 12 years. Despite efforts to engage with the owner, it continues to fall further into disrepair. We will not sit by and watch this happen. The CPO will give us the powers to take action and give the Prudential building a brilliant new future.’ Oldham Council leader Amanda Chadderton explaining the decision to issue a compulsory purchase order to save the derelict Prudential Assurance Building. Designed by AlfredWaterhouse and listed at Grade II, it will be restored and become a business incubation hub
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