IHBCNEWS NOTESFROMTHECHAIR This is my first opportunity to express my sense of honour and obligation that I feel to the members ifthe Institute for electing me to the chair at such an important stage in its development. It is not without a degree of nervousness that I step into the shoes of my distinguished predecessors. I know how much hard work, political cunning and sheer enthusiasm Mike Pearce, Chris Smith and Mary King have devoted to establishing the ACO and now the Institute as the national voice of positive conservation and I hope that I will not lose sight of their vision during my term of office. There will be many challenges ahead as we seek to consolidate and expand but I hope that my experience of both local and national issues will help to meet them. Over the years that I have been involved the conservation profession has moved from occupying a place on the margins of the planning system to the very centre of the political agenda and it might be helpful to those of you who do not know me to briefly outline my association with this remarkable movement. In 1966, long before there were any Conservation Officers and the concept of listed building consent had not been invented, I began my working career as an historian in the Historic Buildings Division of the Greater London Council. As many others will testify, the intellectual ferment of the Division provided the best training for the new discipline and its influence will long survive the narrow political motivation of those who destroyed it. At local government re-organisation in 1974, I moved to a rural district in south Oxfordshire to become a Conservation Officer and, as a lone voice in a suspicious department, discovered for the first time the reality of promoting conservation without the support of sophisticated metropolitan colleagues. It was a rude awakening but as the climate slowly changed it became an infinitely rewarding experience. In 1988 I became the first Conservation Officer to be invited to serve on the Historic Buildings and Areas AdviNOTESFROMCOUNCIL Consultations Recent months have seen a plethora of new initiatives or consultation documents which impinge either directly on conservation practise, or indirectly through suggested changes to local authority management. Guided by the Consultations Sub-committee the Institute is responding constructively to them all, including Modernising Planning, Modernising Local Government -Improving services through Best Value, and Sustainable Development - opportunities for change. Each document addresses a wide range of issues. It would be helpful to the Consultations Sub-committee to receive opinions on each of them from as •wide a range of members as possible o ensure a broad based and fully balanced response is given to government. The Executive held a useful meeting with the authors of the new English Heritage Buildings at Risk Initiative and the Heritage Lottery Fund's Context 58 June 1998 Townscape Initiative while the documents were still in preparation. Many, but not necessarily all, of the IHBC's comments were accepted and were to be incorporated in the final version of the proposals. Partnerships There is a growing perception that the conservation movement needs a single voice to present its agenda to government and other public agencies. IHBC is already involved in an alliance of conservation groups in the UK preparing to lobby again on the issue of VAT and listed building repairs; this grouping is also extending feelers to European organisations to broaden the weight of its campaign. It was agreed to send a representative to a meeting to be organised by Association of Preservation Trusts and the Architectural Heritage Fund to consider forming a National Heritage lobby to address a wider range of issues. IHBC is also considering how sory Committee of English Heritage and in 1991 I embarked on a new career as Reader in Historic Conservation at the University of Oxford where, in addition to contributing to the joint MSc degree in Historic Conservation with Oxford Brookes University, I direct a wide programme of weekly classes, short courses, conferences and summer schools in architectural history and conservation. I continue to keep my hand in at the grass roots through the listed buildings committee of the local amenity society and as a trustee of the Oxford Preservation Trust and I am kept in touch with national issues through my membership of HABAC, as a Commissioner of RCHM(E) and as a trustee of COTAC. Given this range of committments I know that I will rely heavily on the support of all my fellow officers but I hope that my contacts with other organisations will ensure that the interests of the Institute are loudly proclaimed over the broadest possible front. I look fo1ward to serving you. Malcolm Airs best to work with the English Historic Towns Forum in publicising and promoting its Best Practise Guide to conservation area management. Many of its ideas have been worked up in discussion with IHBC members and there was felt to be much common ground worth exploring further between the two organisations. Following earlier correspondence with the Council for the Care of Churches in the aftermath of the Newman Report the possibility of joint CCC/ IHBC conferences or seminars on church conservation is to be explored. Constructive dialogue is beginning to take place between IHBC and other professional institutes both on specific issues and broader themes. Law and Practice Proposals have been put forward for the reconstitution of the former Law and Practice Group, either as a free standing sub committee or in association with the Education Committee. BOOKREVIEWS Any programme of events is to be devised in the context of the IHBC's emergent CPD requirements and to complement existing course offered by centres of conservation education. Finance To comply with Companies' law the accounting year for IHBC has had to be varied from that formerly operated by ACO. The Treasurer presented a short 'year' of six months' accounts to cover the transitional period showing a healthy financial position with a small decrease in expenditure, despite a growth in activity, and a rise in income. Membership All former ACO members who had applied for full or associate membership have now been formally elected to IHBC membership. There is concern that over 300 former ACO members have still not submitted their applications for translation from temporary to permanent membership of IHBC. It was agreed the Membership Secretary should write to them pointing out that an application is needed to enjoy continuing membership and warning that their present temporary status will expire within six months. Administration At the end of the Institute's first year in operation it was agreed to set up a small working party to review administration and procedure. In particular it has become apparent that greater clarity is needed between the functions of Council and Executive to allow the former to concentrate on policy making and formulation of an IHBC view on conservation issues. The huge and growing volume of work being undertaken on a voluntary basis (including the production of Context) is threatening to overwhelm individual officers. A major task will be to examine the need for permanent administrative assistance, the form this might take and the financial implications of the various options. The working group is tasked to report back to Council by the end of the year with a view to any substantive proposals, particularly those which might impact on subscriptions, being discussed at next year's AGM. Fortunately volunteers are still coming forward. An assistant membership secretary has been appointed to relieve some 39
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