Memorandum by Urban Splash (HIS 52)
1. THE CONTRIBUTION
OF HISTORIC
BUILDINGS TO
URBAN REGENERATION
Historic buildings can have a massive contribution
to urban regeneration. They are often what distinguishes one town
from another.
Urban Splash has often used existing historic
buildings to regenerate areas, examples include: the conversion
of an old chemical factory created Concert Square in Liverpool;
a redundant department store which became Smithfield Buildings,
kick started the regeneration of the Northern Quarter in Manchester;
Britannia Mills, a converted Emery Mill which with many other
Victorian buildings, created the wonder that is now Castlefield
in Manchester; the conversion of the burnt out shell of the Collegiate
school into apartments kick started the transformation of Everton,
and the restoration of the former Bryant and May Works into The
Match Factory in Speke, Liverpool which has not only created thousands
of new jobs, but is in itself a symbol of hope in the future for
this community. Currently, we are hoping to use the restoration
of Lister Mill in Manningham, Bradford and The Midland Hotel in
Morecambe as a catalyst for change in these deprived towns.
2. THE ROLE
AND EFFECTIVENESS
OF THE
PUBLIC AGENCIES
RESPONSIBLE FOR
THE BUILT
AND HISTORIC
ENVIRONMENT IS
ENCOURAGING URBAN
REGENERATION
Generally we have found public agencies to be
supportive of the re-use of historic buildings in principle, but
often the planning and legislative processes, for example Listed
Building Consent, together with a lack of resources mean that
working with an historical building is often more problematic
and expensive than working with other buildings.
3. WHETHER THOSE
ORGANISATIONS CARRYING
OUT REGENERATION
PROJECTS GIVE
SUFFICIENT REGARD
TO HISTORIC
BUILDINGS
If I may, this is a silly question in so far
as some organisations do and some organisations don't!
Some organisations like, I hope, Urban Splash,
give great regard to historic buildings, but other organisations,
I believe, are carefree and are even criminal in their neglect
and occasionally destruction of listed buildings. It is of concern
to those organisations that go to great lengths and costs to preserve
historic buildings that other organisations, which either neglect
or even wilfully damage buildings, often appear to go unpunished.
4. WHETHER THE
PLANNING SYSTEM
AND THE
LISTING OF
HISTORIC BUILDINGS
AID OR
HINDER URBAN
REGENERATION
Although the listing system is intended to avoid
the loss of historic buildings, its unintentional side effect
is to make the conservation of these buildings more difficult
and more problematic. I believe that there should be some planning
gain or fiscal benefit to give an advantage to those that restore
listed buildings in order to level the playing field. For instance,
there might be a relaxation of Section 106 requirements, providing
improved planning permission procedures when regenerating historic
buildings.
5. WHETHER ALL
GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS
TAKE ADEQUATE
ACCOUNT OF
HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT
Not all Government departments take good care
of the historic environment. In particular, I have seen some examples
of totally inappropriate alterations undertaken by Government
departments, which are exempt from the planning process (examples
include many military establishments).
6. WHETHER FISCAL
AND LEGISLATIVE
CHANGES SHOULD
BE MADE
I believe several fiscal and legislative changes
could be made to encourage the re-use of historic buildings:
— Firstly, Government departments and
the public sector generally should be encouraged to occupy these
historic buildings themselves or locate in urban regeneration
areas.
— There should be more favourable planning
permissions available for the re-use of historic buildings.
— VAT could be fully recoverable for
refurbishment and improvement works to historic buildings.
— Some other fiscal incentives should
be introduced for example Capital Allowances to encourage re-use
of historic buildings.
In conclusion, Urban Splash has shown how historic
buildings can be critical to the regeneration of our towns and
cities. However, Urban Splash tends to be the exception to the
rule rather than the norm. Most developers consider the re-use
of historic buildings as very difficult, expensive and bureaucratic.
If the intention is to encourage more re-use of historic buildings,
the Government must look at more fiscal benefits to encourage
developers.
I'm not sure what your definition of historic
buildings is, and not every old building is worth keeping. I am
pleased to see that English Heritage, certainly in its senior
officers and most, but by no means all planning officers, are
taking a much more pragmatic role about conservation rather than
preservation. By that I mean, conservation is about keeping the
critical elements of a historic building, changing other elements
and inevitably finding new uses. Preservation is about turning
a building into an historical artefact and not changing anything.
The preservation route means that there is little likelihood of
an economic use for the building and if we as a nation believe
that a building ought to be preserved and not changed then I believe
it is the obligation of the nation to purchase and maintain that
building and not to pass this unrealistic obligation onto the
private sector.
Finally, when additions or adaptations are made
to an historic building it is important that they are not poor
pastiche imitations of the original property pretending to be
historic. If they were introduced in the 21st Century, then they
should look like they were introduced in the 21st Century. Our
best streetscapes are often ones full of buildings from different
periods, medieval, Georgian, Victorian and modern, with each building
a quality example of its age.
I hope the Select Committee will recognise the
importance of the role of historic buildings and encourage their
future use.
Tom Bloxham MBE
Chairman
Urban Splash
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