4 NEWS COMMENT CONSULTATIONS: WHO WANTS TO LISTEN? One aspect of the growing maturity of the Association has been its status as an official consultee on proposed Government legislation, policy directives and regulations. It is hoped that this will carry further weight when the Association becomes the Institute for Historic Building Conservation in 1997. Despite the Government seeming not to have any imminent legislative programme for better regulation of the heritage (beyond the Lottery), the last nine months has seen a flood of directly and indirectly relevant initiatives -some more welcome than others. On the plus side, 'Protecting our Heritage' took a generally positive and sensible approach to listing procedures but an absence ofDoE input on planning related aspects and no acknowledgement of the resource implications were two regrettable omissions. On the minus side, the deregulatory study commissioned by the DoE into the 'Reconciliation of Legislation on Historic Buildings' (on which many Conservation Officers provided an early input) appeared not only to be seriously flawed but its preliminary conclusions - on which the ACO had only the briefest of opportunities to comment - could not be supported. The Government steering group responsible for it also appeared not to contain a single representative with direct local government experience. One characteristic which was common to all the consultations (except 'Protecting our Heritage') was the disgracefully brief time given to respond. Pressure to answer without time for proper internal consultation or mature reflection was a matter of great concern not only to ACO but also to other bodies including the national amenity societies and the local government associations. At times there was a suspicion that consultation exercises were merely cosmetic and responses might carry little weight. Some important and fundamental consultations were muddled, poorly drafted and smacked of unduly hasty preparation - particularly the draft Directions set to replace those still in force under Circular 8/87. Poor drafting leads to poor implementation, but will the Government carry the can or will the local authorities who have to use them get the blame? Despite many unreasonable deadlines, your Consultations Sub-Committee has performed heroically to represent the views of ACO members. Thanks are due to them for the quiet efficiency, considerable time and voluntary effort this has taken since the Spring. FORTHCOMING ISSUES:DEADLINES COVER STORY great importance to painting stucco with lime-wash because of the way it mellows with age and frequently sent builders his recipe made up of 100 parts slaked lime, 1 part copperas (or pyrites), 2 parts salt and 2 ANDTHEMES parts Russian tallow, with powdered colour as required - yellow ochre, red oxide, Venetian red and burnt umber." If any readers have similar interesting or favourite recipes or have views on this matter generally, they may care to write to the Editor. CONTEXT BACK ISSUES AVAILABLE The Editor finds that space in his 'office' is now at a premium and his better half is dropping hints that it is time for a rationalisation. Although early issues, Nos 1-11, are no longer available, there are reasonable quantities from No 17 (December 1987) onward apart from Nos 21 and 28, both of which are also out of print. Back copies are available on a first-come-first-served basis at a cost of £4.00 each (inc p+p) while stocks last. If you are missing back issues, now is your only chance! AREYOUOUT THERE? There have been complaints, (although not to the Editor!) that there is no regular Letters page in Context. How odd that no one has written to me about it! Well we do publish letters! Usually we print all the relevant letters that we receive. Perhaps, if we had actually received some letters with a view to express, we might consider a recurrent Letters page! Copy deadline for the Spring 1997 issue will be 15 January. Please adhere to this deadline. Issue 53 will look at the problems and opportunities of enabling development. Other contributions, experiences, technical notes and case studies are welcome (space permitting) but articles under 2,000 words are much preferred. We continue our recent practice of devoting our winter issue to a particular building material and devote this issue to terracotta and faience. Considerable damage has been done to the material by inappropriate and inexperienced cleaning, a topic dealt with by Dr Michael Stratton. Equally, there are many cases where replacements can be the manufactured but this requires an understanding of the manufacturing constraints. These are explained by lbstock Hathernware Ltd. One example of the company' expertise in this field is shown in our cover photo. THE CONSERVATION PORTFOLIO In the December 1996 edition of the Portfolio are: Copy in word-processed form on 3·5" floppy disk would be appreciated where possible. Please be sure to indicate what software it is written in on the label. Don't just give the title of the file! Do not sent faxed copy only - it cannot be scanned directly into Context or the Newsletter as it will be too blurred at the Editor's end. Any faxed copy not immediately followed up with a clear hard copy in the post will be rejected for publication. RECIPE COLUMN Lucy Archer's 1985 biography about her father, Raymond Erith, the highly accomplished post-war classicist architect, made passing reference (page 94) to a recipe for limewashing of stucco which readers might find of interest. "He attached Eurocom Enterprise Ltd Uginox Terned Stainless Steel for Roofing, Flashings and Gutters Britannia Architectural Metalwork & Restoration Standard and Special Castings in Iron and Aluminium Cliveden Conservation Workshop Advisers to the National Trust. Specialist Contractors in Stone and Plaster Conservation Conservation Specialists Ltd Conservators of Historic Buildings and Artefacts CONTEXT 52
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