2 C O N T E X T 1 0 5 : J U LY 2 0 0 8 Context Briefing Copy deadlines Context is published five times a year, in March, May, July, September and November. The remaining copy deadlines in 2008 are: Issue Deadline September, Issue 106 18 July November, Issue 107 22 September Editor Rob Cowan Editorial Coordinator Fiona Newton 21 George Street, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 9JU Tel 01507 602567 email [email protected] Editorial Board Fiona Newton (chair) Susan Brook (treasurer) Nigel Crowe (main features) Peter de Figueiredo (book reviews) Michael Taylor (main features) Cartoons and illustrations by Rob Cowan Context is distributed to all members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. © Institute of Historic Building Conservation 2008 ISSN 0958-2746 Publisher Published for the Institute of Historic Building Conservation by Cathedral Communications Limited, High Street, Tisbury,Wiltshire, England SP3 6HA Tel 01747 871717 Fax 01747 871718 email [email protected] www.buildingconservation.com Non-member subscriptions to Context Context is available to non-members of the IHBC at an annual subscription rate, including postage, of: United Kingdom £50.00 Elsewhere £75.00 Subscription orders, together with remittances payable to Institute of Historic Building Conservation, should be sent to the IHBC Business Office at Jubilee House, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA. The views expressed in Context are not necessarily held by the IHBC or the publisher. Neither the publisher nor the IHBC shall be under any liability whatsoever in respect of contributed articles. We gratefully acknowledge the support of firms whose advertisements appear throughout this publication.While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this issue of Context is current and correct, neither the IHBC nor the publisher can be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur. No to member review As Context went to press, we received initial reports of Baroness Andrews’ contribution to the House of Lords debate on the Planning Bill for England and Wales. Part 9 of the Bill contained provisions to set up local member review bodies to determine certain planning appeals, instead of the secretary of state as now. The government has concluded that, while that might have brought some benefit, it risked distracting local authorities, particularly at a time when there was an urgent need for them to focus on strategic plans and issues. It therefore intended to drop this provision at committee stage. The IHBC has warmly welcomed this development, which follows energetic lobbying by the sector, in particular the RTPI. Baroness Andrews’ keynote speech to the IHBC’s Annual School in June in Guildford made it clear that she will listen to concerns raised in the development of new legislation. The institute hopes that the concerns that the IHBC and its partners have raised over comparable provisions in the draft Heritage Bill for England and Wales will lead to a similar outcome. Church repair grants The Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage have announced a package of grants worth £6.87 million for essential repairs to Grade II listed churches and chapels across England. The grants will help to repair over 70 historic places of worship. The largest grant, £251,000, will be given to St Mark’s Church, Lakenham in Norfolk to renew its leaking roof. Since 2002 more than £133 million in essential repair grants has been awarded to almost 1,500 historic places of worship through the joint Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme, the largest single funding source for work of this kind. The Church of England currently spends £120 million a year on repairs. According to English Heritage research published as part of the Inspired! Campaign, the backlog repair bill for all listed places of worship in England is an estimated £925 million over the next five years. Grant for Soar Chapel The Heritage Lottery Fund has agreed a grant of £527,000 to transform the town’s Soar Chapel and Vestry buildings into a centre for performing arts and community activities. The HLF has earmarked the money while more detailed plans are put together. An additional £56,700 of development funding from the HLF will enable a community organisation to develop its £1.3 million plan to ensure a sustainable future for the Grade II listed chapel. Soar Chapel is one of the few remaining Congregational chapels to have survived intact in an area that has lost a significant amount of its 19th century built heritage. On the waterfront A conference ‘On theWaterfront: culture, heritage and regeneration of port cities’ will be held in Liverpool on 19-21 November. Speakers, including Simon Thurley of English Heritage and Sir Bob Scott of the Liverpool Culture
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