C O N T E X T 1 1 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 0 15 IHBC Annual School 2010 IHBC Annual School 2009 IHBC Annual School 2010 (traditional road signs in Lincolnshire). This was delivered from the background of a twotier authority. Lott’s message to heritage professionals was that every HER was reliant on new information being fed into it – a sort of virtuous cycle. The more we put in, the more we could get out. Talking with other delegates following Lott’s presentation, I was alarmed at the number who confessed that before the presentation they had been completely unaware of what an HER actually contained. This reminded me of a survey of IHBC members, conducted by the West Midlands branch in 2007, that found that 25 per cent of those responding had never had contact with their own local sites and monuments record (SMR). Perhaps part of the issue is that although the transition from SMRs to historic environment records (HERs) has been taking place for a number of years, this is an area traditionally dominated by archaeology. Other built heritage professions have always been on the periphery, clearly unaware of their potential role – hence Lott’s invitation. This issue was raised by Sue Whitehouse in her article ‘Historic environment records: what next?’ (Context 104, May 2008). Another consideration is exactly how the new information is to be fed through to the HER, and the technology and systems required to manage this process. The 2001 Baker and Chitty survey of local authority resources highlighted the differential progress in developing supporting information systems for archaeology and the historic built environment.This is still a pressing concern. Equally perhaps, we should be discussing the significant opportunities for HERs to become an integrated part of the e-planning system, linked to other databases on corporate information management systems. The opportunities are significant. They can be seen in the recent English Heritage publication Sites and Monuments Record to Historic Environment Record: local authority case studies (2010). The final thought that Lott’s presentation provoked in me was how it is essential that we get across case studies of cases where successful historic environment integration has paid dividends. An example of this is Jonathan Smith’s article in Context earlier this year (Context 113, March 2010). Alyson Cooper Creative thinking: making the best of design panels Who would have thought that within a decade of telling the planners of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in his Stirling Prize acceptance speech to go forth and multiply, the confrontational architect Will Alsop would be heading up the very same Royal Borough’s design panel? Whether Alsop has mellowed or the royal borough has ‘found the groove’ who knows, but thoughts of this unlikely partnership underlay Richard Craig’s presentation on design panels. Craig is a senior urban designer at the royal borough and in-house coordinator of its architecture appraisal James Caird explores the trade exhibition.
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