4 C O N T E X T 8 8 : M A R C H 2 0 0 5 have a cultural value to that wider community. Almost all these buildings earn their living, so the regulation of change to them through the planning system involves a balancing of cultural value with utility – public interest with private interest – an inherently political process. This listed building consent procedure almost always works by understanding, negotiation and consensus: nine out of ten applications are granted. ‘The council conservation officers and English Heritage inspectors advising on that process walk a well-defined path, set out by the government’s own guidance (chiefly Planning Policy Guidance Note 15), as well as case-law and adopted local policies. They are not heritage Lone Rangers, and they can not be ‘dictators’. ‘Training is, of course, crucial. That is why the IHBC centres its activities on training and standards. Conservation officers do not have to be architects or surveyors, as they are essentially a public-interest client in the building process, but they do have to understand the significance of the building, the needs of its use, and the range of options available. ‘I can not defend them against Mr Aslet’s accusation of youthfulness, except to welcome the fact that younger people are coming into the profession. ‘If owners believe that they are the victims of eccentric advice and decisions, they can and should use the planning appeals process for test and remedy. A two-year delay would clearly be inexcusable, and would bring into question the service that the owners have received from their own advisers. A conservation-accredited architect or surveyor would be most unlikely to lead a client into a Kafkaesque standoff, as he or she would understand the guidance, the values behind it, and the appeal procedure. ‘We all find the law irksome when it applies to us, but is Clive Aslet really suggesting an abandonment of historic environment protection? We don’t think he would like the result.’ IHBC chair John Yates in a letter to the Sunday Telegraph. Great stereotypes of our time No 1: The Conservation Officer ‘THIS IS NOT simply a debate about protecting modernist architecture. It is a debate about whether to have a planning system… If the events that led to this inquiry go unchallenged, then what is a historic building today may be a greenfield housing site tomorrow.’ Barrister Richard Harwood, acting for English Heritage, at the public inquiry into the demolition of the modernist house Greenside, quoted in Building Design. ‘FORTHOSE who think they might like to become more involved but are nervous about the embarrassment caused by an election, a word with an existing committee member, before the AGM, may make joining the committee less potentially humiliating.’ Advice in the IHBC North West Branch Newsletter. The nature of the potential humiliation is not disclosed. ‘THE ANCESTOR worship of old buildings is a delusion that is bound to end in disappointment of the most bitter kind. It will not keep us young; it will not ward off the future. As we can see, it will only suffocate our dwindling power to reorder the present, waste our diminishing resources, and immobilise a growing proportion of the building stock of the nation. In the new century that we are locked into, buildings will no longer be treasures to be hoarded; they are tools to be used and improved, altered and replaced over and over again in all the processes of living. ‘The fantastic delusions of the art historical value system are robbing us of the power of action that is the only true relief in the human condition. If environmentalists lay claim to the political high ground of the new century, what remains of undiscovered territory for the exploring architectural mind?’ Columnist Martin Pawley writing in the Architects’ Journal. Managing the Historic Environment in the Digital Age The IHBC and IFA are jointly organising a day school on Friday 20th May 2005 considering the impacts and opportunities for the historic environment arising from current government initiatives. Sites and Monuments Records have become Historic Environment Records, with the prospect of statutory status, but has their scope been broadened to match the new name? The ODPM is introducing new e-government requirements for local authorities, seemingly without coordination with the DCMS, or thought for their implications for historic environment services. Can we really work with paperless offices, and how do we manage both hard copy and digital records, including those generated through the planning system?What resources and approaches are available to historic environment professionals? The government has seen historic environment record centres and architecture centres as separate strands, but can they be integrated? Venue University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education, Rewley House, 1Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA Contact Hazel Richards on 01865 270380, [email protected]
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