Memorandum by English Heritage (CT 37)
The coastal towns of England, both the larger
urban ones and the smaller ones that are essentially rural market
towns on the coast, are of special importance to the culture and
heritage of an island nation whose trade with all other nations
has since prehistoric times been by sea, and which has had to
rely on the sea as a major source of food. Additionally, for over
200 years coastal towns have been central to much of the growing
leisure industry. The late C20, however saw a major decline in
all three of these activities that gave these coastal towns their
livelihood. Much investment has been put by Government and its
agencies into the regeneration of these settlements, including
from English Heritage, and in the last 10 years the Heritage Lottery
Fund. This submission summarises our views of those consequences.
THE CONTEXT
1. English Heritage is the Government's
statutory adviser on all matters relating to the historic environment
in England. We are a non-departmental public body established
under the National Heritage Act 1983 to help protect England's
historic environment and promote awareness, understanding and
enjoyment of it.
2. The historic environment is all around
us and encompasses the whole of our historic landscape and buried
archaeology, not just visible buildings and scheduled monuments.
It is our most accessible cultural resource and has a powerful
influence on peoples' sense of identity and civic pride. It contributes
significantly to the character and "sense of place"
of rural and urban coastal communities and lies at the heart of
sustainable growth.
3. English Heritage supports the need for
major investment in coastal towns to ensure their regeneration
and to equip them to meet the challenges of the C21. English Heritage
believes that many Government initiatives for delivering sustainable
communities and stimulating economic, environmental and social
improvements are delivering real benefits to coastal communities.
We further believe that the most successful heritage-led regeneration
schemes in seaside towns offer valuable lessons for other organisations
and individuals engaged in similar projects elsewhere.
4. The scale of the investment needed and
the changes of focus of these settlements have important consequences
for the historic environment. It should not be seen as a threat
to that environment but as an opportunity to exploit its full
potential to help create sustainable communities by reinvigorating
existing ones. The historic environment, properly understood,
sensitively managed and intelligently developed, can make a positive
difference to these revitalised towns.
5. English Heritage has developed a significant
degree of expertise in undertaking regeneration projects in coastal
towns, particularly in partnership with other organisations with
similar and complementary areas of interest. This submission focuses
on our work in this area, and we do not propose to comment in
detail on every area of the Committee's inquiry.
EXAMINING THE
CASE FOR
SPECIAL INITIATIVES
TO TACKLE
THE NEEDS
OF COASTAL
TOWNS
6. There is little doubt surrounding the
continuing need for special initiatives to tackle the problems
facing coastal towns. While many of these social and economic
problems are not unique to coastal towns, such as high unemployment
levels, low income levels and housing problems more readily associated
with inner-city areas, the underlying causes and any potential
solutions are distinct from those elsewhere in the country. The
combination of the decline of traditional maritime industry (including
ship-building, fishing and naval support) allied to changing holiday
preferences present a unique set of issues with which coastal
local authorities, their partner organisations and local communities
have had to grapple.
7. These issues have had consequent effects
on the built environment and the public spaces that gave coastal
and seaside towns their particular character and attracted visitors
and businesses as a result, often resulting in a downward spiral
of decline. In many cases, a "tipping point" has been
passed which has proved extremely difficult to reverse. The problems
associated with coastal towns continue to demand a specific and
coherent programme of action to address them.
EVALUATING THE
SUCCESS OF
RDAS AND
OTHER BODIES
IN SUPPORTING
AND DEVELOPING
THE ECONOMIES
OF COASTAL
TOWNS
8. A focus on the built and historic environment
has proved to be an essential element in many successful examples
of coastal heritage-led regeneration projects. English Heritage
and other bodies (particularly the Heritage Lottery Fund) have
been able to offer funding, time and expertise to these projects
to ensure their success. These include:
9. Chatham Royal Naval Dockyard. The
regeneration of the northern area of the former Royal Naval base
(known as Chatham Maritime) has been managed by South East of
England Development Agency, which has also provided significant
funding. It has seen former naval buildings provide the area with
shops, a pub, restaurant, community centre, school and doctor's
surgery. Around 900 homes have been built with another 2000 planned.
10. The Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust
has worked closely with partners (including English Heritage)
to revitalise the dockyard as the core of a vibrant and mixed
use site. The project is now nearing completion, with the dockyard
a key attraction for the area with around 130,000 visitors per
year, and around 125 commercial tenants on site (employing approximately
1,000 people). The entire 32 hectare site, a focal point for community
identity in Chatham for over 300 years, has been retained and
converted to a new use, generating around £20 million annually
for the local economy. The historic environment has been used
to develop a model sustainable community, where people want to
live, work and visit.
11. Great Yarmouth. Protecting,
promoting and enhancing the town's heritage are central components
of the Borough Council's regeneration strategy. Funding from English
Heritage's Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme (HERS) concentrated
on investing in environmental improvements and repairs to historic
buildings and areas. Schemes for shop front improvements in the
town centre area were particularly successful, where the improvements
lifted the visual profile of the streets and increased retail
confidence. English Heritage funding of £380,000 eventually
levered in over £2,000,000 of private sector funding and
over £700,000 of other public sector funding. Allied to the
establishment of the Norfolk Nelson Museum, the heritage-led regeneration
of the town has been highly successful in creating a high quality
and well-used townscape.
12. St Anne's on Sea. Like many
other seaside resorts, the local economy in St Anne's on Sea in
Lancashire has faced difficult times in recent years due to changing
patterns of tourism. While several regeneration and environmental
improvement projects had been undertaken on the seafront of the
town, the symptoms of decline have also been particularly evident
in the town centre conservation area. Research undertaken by the
local authority revealed a lack of confidence in the future of
the town on the part of local businesses.
13. English Heritage targeted investment
in this part of the town under another HER Scheme. Funding of
£121,000 from English Heritage levered in another £3,000,000
of public and private money, which has enabled a whole series
of works to improve the look and feel of area. The project was
concluded in 2003, and included the restoration of shop fronts,
conversion of upper floors to town centre housing, improvements
to the public realm, fac"ade refurbishment and re-roofing
of selected properties and the refurbishment of forecourts.
14. Falmouth. Another HER scheme
that has delivered significant benefits was undertaken in Falmouth,
and concentrated on the commercial centre of the Falmouth Conservation
Area. The project commenced in 2001, and total funding of £190,000
from English Heritage proved to be the catalyst for a further
£1,200,000 of private and public sector funding for the project.
The end result has been a further £3,000,000 in additional
sales revenue for the local retail sector.
15. There are many other examples of heritage-led
regeneration in coastal towns, and we would be pleased to give
further details if necessary.
16. Weymouth. As one of the venues
for the 2012 Olympic Games, the regeneration of Weymouth is obviously
a high priority for the Government and the organising bodies.
A number of significant projects have already been announced or
are underway with a historic environment dimension, including
the Heritage Lottery Fund's Townscape Heritage Initiative scheme
around the Esplanade. The South West RDA is also exploring the
possible redevelopment of the Pavilion theatre and ferryport site.
17. Given the importance of "showcasing"
the best of our built environment to the rest of the world during
the Olympics, it is obviously important to ensure that projects
such as these are completed in good time. Furthermore, we feel
that the regional development agency, other funding bodies and
the local authority should not overlook the benefits that can
be achieved by area based heritage-led regeneration projects.
Restoring and refurbishing historic character clearly restores
both community and business confidence in particular areas and
can have much wider impact than simply the employment involved
in carrying out the work.
CONCLUSION
18. It is generally acknowledged that coastal
towns need to move towards sustainable, all-year round economies
to be able to provide better employment opportunities and address
the issues that currently beset many of them. While the Government
continues to make strides in addressing the prevalent socio-economic
issues, the underlying causes are unlikely to disappear over the
next few years. This means that local planning authorities and
other public sector bodies will have to innovate in their strategies
to stimulate local economies.
19. A focus on the local historic environment
provides an excellent method of doing just this. Almost every
single coastal community in the country has a distinctive and
important local character, whether this is based on its role in
supporting fishing fleets, the navy or trade with other countries.
Many have a rich architectural heritage created through times
of prosperity as a result of their coastal locations. At a time
when domestic tourism is undergoing something of a renaissance,
we believe a renewed focus on what originally created local character
and prosperity can play an important role for coastal towns.
20. In order to ensure that such an approach
leads to long-term benefits, local planning authorities need to
adopt a similarly long-term vision for the development of their
area. Character appraisals of their historic areas should be undertaken
to develop understanding of local character, and this information
should be used to feed into strategic forward planning documents.
INFORMATION SOURCES
Heritage Dividend, English Heritage 1999.
Heritage Dividend 2002, English Heritage 2002.
East of England Heritage Dividend, English Heritage
2003.
Shifting Sands, CABE/English Heritage 2003.
Sea Changes, English Tourism Council 2001.
| 
