C O N T E X T 8 7 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 4 5 Conservation in Northern Ireland From AdamWilkinson, secretary, SAVE SAVE was surprised not to see any acknowledgement of the vast amount of hard work it has put in to the fight for conservation in Northern Ireland over the past three years in the pages of the September 2004 issue of your esteemed, and usually highly enjoyable, journal. This may well be down to our usual weakness of being too busy to blow our own trumpet. In July 2001 we published the report Blink andYou’ll Miss It: Northern Ireland’s heritage in danger, which pulled together all of the different failings in the system into one report, highlighting the very dramatic effect these were having on Northern Ireland’s built heritage. Many of these issues were covered in your reports on the IHBC Annual School. The launch of this report in Northern Ireland represented the first time any body from the rest of the UK had vocalised any concern about the dreadful situation faced by the historic built environment in Northern Ireland, and it was an important factor in galvanising the heritage lobby within Northern Ireland. The report was, as is SAVE’s wont, hard hitting and to the point. The Environment and Heritage Service, to its credit, listened to what we had to say and responded to it, that response ultimately finding its form in last year’s amendments to the Planning Orders.We have continued our interest beyond this, supporting the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society in casework when asked, and continuing to press government to act over buildings, areas and issues. The continued role that amenity societies and pressure groups have to play both within Northern Ireland and in the rest of the UK is frequently overlooked, yet they are an essential part of the make-up of the broad alliance of those who care for our historic built environment. This breadth is reflected in the IHBC’s membership and, one hopes, in its thinking about, and understanding of, the sector, as it should be in its reporting of issues. AdamWilkinson Wheelie maddening From Ann Lots,York An anonymous contributor (Letters, Context 86, September) voiced concern at the impact of wheelie bins on historic places. I hate wheelie bins so much that I have become the Rudolph Giuliani of my street inYork – zero tolerance and direct action. If any are left out on pavements, I put a (polite) note through the door (which also mentions that no one is obliged to have a wheelie bin). But if the bins are still left out, I put them in the car and take them back to the council depot. I must have taken number 12’s five times, but it worked in the end. None of which solves the problem of councils which are giving bins to those in terraced houses that have no rear access or, as in one case I have seen, a flight of 14 steps. I have corresponded with a few authorities about this and they are well aware that it is an offence for a bin to be left permanently on the pavement. They are flouting the law and getting away with it. Bins in front gardens are just as ugly, although not as dangerous, as on pavements. I am toying with the idea of designing a trellis arrangement, also on wheels, which could be used to conceal the bins, with a plant container incorporated to cover the trellis. All other suggestions welcome (to [email protected]). From my fairly extensive travels, Ipswich is the worst place I have seen, with Bristol close behind, although the latter does have more excuse, with so many large houses converted into flats. A letter to the Times recently highlighted Bury St Edmunds as particularly horrendous, but I have not visited it recently. Can English Heritage be galvanised to address the issue? Its recent streets campaign must be a starting point, since in the worst-afflicted towns any other measures to improve streets are simply fiddling while Rome burns. I tried the Civic Trust but its reply was pathetic. One other element: it seems to me that a wheelie is approximately twice as large as a conventional dustbin. Even with fortnightly collection, three of those equals three times the previous capacity.What was that about discouraging over-packaging, and encouraging more responsibility and throwing less away? Organisations like Friends of the Earth should be on to this one and might be useful allies, as should the disability campaigners in relation to obstruction on pavements. What we need is a public uprising on the lines of the Schweppes bottle dump – a mass wheel-in, back to the council depots. I’m game. Are you? Ann Lots Letters Addendum The architect for the restoration of the Theatre Royal in Richmond (Context 86, September 2004, p3) was Allen Tod Architecture.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=