28 CASE STUDY TonyPlayer and CharlesWagner on the advantages of a fast-track approach to Town Schemes . WHATMAKESA SUCCESSFULCONSERVATIONAREA SCHEME? BINGHAMTOWN SCHEME Recent changes to the approach to grantaid schemes in conservation areas have emphasised the need to make all schemes in the future higher intensity, with higher annual budgets, but with a limited lifetime. This has been seen by some as very different from what many Town Schemes have become, which is a 'quiet success story', ticking along slowly with the minimum annual allocation of £10,000, or slightly more, taking up to 20 years to achieve the turn round in condition of the majority of conservation area's historic buildings. Many have questioned whether the injection of larger amounts of grant-aid over a shorter period can achieve a more instant 'fix-it' in smaller market town conservation areas. We would like to share with you our experience in Bingham, Nottinghamshire, where from 1990 a Town Scheme has been running with a large annual budget, given the size of the settlement, and now in its fifth year most of the problem buildings have been tackled. Bingham Town Scheme evolved out of a conservation review by Rushcliffe Borough Council in 1989. Early consultation with Peggy Ann Monroe of English Heritage and Peter Billson of Nottinghamshire County Council led Tony Player, the then recently appointed Conservation Officer of Rushcliffe Borough, to make a submission for a three-year Town Scheme in late 1989. The proposal gained English Heritage approval and was introduced in April 1990 with a granr budget of £40,000 per annum based on a funding breakdown of 50% (£20,000) by English Heritage, 25% by Nottinghamshire County Council (£10,000) and 25% by Rushcliffe Borough Council (£10,000) based on an estimate that at least six medium-sized projects would be tackled per year for each of the three year the scheme was planned to run. Rushcliffe Borough Council was the lead authority in the running of the scheme and was soon given delegated powers from English Heritage. With the building trade recession at its worst a slow start was expected, particularly with people still having to fund 60% of costs, but after about six months the project gained some recognition when the first two small grant-aided projects were completed. Involvement of local people and organisations from Bingham helped tremendously in gaining local confidence in the scheme. Initiatives such as local recording of building interiors and the preparation of an inventory of contents took place with the local history group. Publicity by the Borough Council was circulated to all households in the area and was regularly followed up with other bulletins. Everyone who responded to the publicity was personally visited by Tony Player to explain the purpose of the scheme and see which repairs were needed to the buildings. This put a face 'somewhat round and hairy' to the Council's contact. Smaller projects were encouraged in the first years, so that work would commence quickly in the area and give people the chance to see work in progress. Grant payments were made promptly on completion so word got around that people would not be out of pocket for too long. Local newspapers ran articles on the scheme, adverts went in magazines and involvement of community groups was sought, for example, by local schools visits co the buildings. Another budget for streetscape improvements was introduced by Rushcliffe Borough in 1990 and helped with a facelift in the area. Minor complementary landscape works were also undertaken by the Borough on rhe floorscapes to help uplift the area's CONTEXT 43
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