Memorandum submitted by Heritage Link
BACKGROUND
Heritage Link brings together 80 voluntary organisations
concerned with heritage in England representing interests from
specialist advisers, practitioners and managers, volunteers and
owners, to national funding bodies and local building preservation
trusts. Much of the historic environment is cared for—supported,
managed or owned—by these organisations. They are supported
by some four million members making it the biggest alliance of
heritage interests in England.
1. FUNDING
The heritage sector is, naturally, concerned
that the Olympics may have an adverse effect on the funding available
for heritage projects, particularly through the Heritage Lottery
Fund and the other non-Olympic lottery distributors. However,
it is also hoped that some of the funding which may become available
for the cultural programme will apply to heritage projects, particularly
those which are tourism related. Heritage Link is waiting for
information to become available on the various funding programmes
before it is able to comment more fully on this, and in particular
information on what funding will be available from LOCOG for external
events in the Cultural Olympiad, if any.
2. LEGACY
For the heritage sector, this is perhaps the
most important aspect of the period leading up to the Olympics
and the years beyond 2012. For the Olympics to have a truly lasting
social and economic impact, there need to be considerable benefits
accruing both to the areas in which the events are staged and
to other parts of the UK. This applies both in terms of the regeneration
of existing buildings and also the quality of the new-build specifically
for the Olympics.
The quality of design and construction needs
to be addressed to ensure that all construction and refurbishment
meets the highest possible standards.
2.1 East London
Looking at specific opportunities around the
historic built environment, although the area of London where
the main Olympic events will be staged is not noted for its historic
buildings, there are nonetheless some significant individual buildings
and streetscapes which should be targeted for restoration and
regeneration work.
One such is the Abbey Mills Pumping Station
in Newham, where a consortium of stakeholders including the owners,
Thames Water, Heritage of London Trust Operations Limited, funders
including the Architectural Heritage Fund and English Heritage,
the Local Authority, Buildings Crafts College and Groundwork UK
is already developing plans for the restoration and reuse of some
of these magnificent buildings. There are opportunities for use
of the Abbey Mills site around the Olympics, in particular for
hospitality purposes, and this is being discussed with LOCOG and
the ODA.
The streetscapes of East London also contain
some fine historic buildings, including civic buildings, many
of which are badly neglected, and the regeneration of these would
be of considerable benefit to the local communities, in one of
the most deprived areas of the UK. This will only take place,
however, if it is recognised early on that this needs to be a
priority of the work in the run-up to the Games.
The opportunity presented by London 2012 should
enable the major heritage bodies, including English Heritage,
to tackle the key Buildings at Risk on the register in the five
London Boroughs mainly involved in the Olympics. Additional funding
will be required, but this could become a special "Olympics
theme" for funders such as the Heritage Lottery Fund. It
is particularly important that those buildings on the major transport
corridors are tackled so that they do not remain as a blight on
the routes into the Olympic Park.
2.2 Nations and Regions
There are also opportunities to be exploited
in the rest of the UK, particularly where events are being held
or training camps will be based. Two of the main event sites are
World Heritage Sites (Greenwich and Weymouth/Jurassic Coast) and
as well as ensuring that these are properly managed and protected
during the Games themselves, additional funding should be brought
in to make the most of the extra visitors and to carry out restoration
works where necessary.
3. SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
It is also essential that the opportunities
for developing skills, in the construction industry and in hospitality
and marketing, are exploited to the full. There is a serious shortage
of skilled craftspeople throughout the UK and the work around
regeneration projects could provide considerable opportunities
to address this issue. Similarly, skills training is needed within
the hospitality industry to ensure that the major attractions,
including heritage attractions, are fully geared up for dealing
with additional visitors before, during and after the Olympics,
and that the attractions themselves are presented as well as possible.
Organisations involved with the Olympics should also be given
encouragement and support in reaching a compatible level of technological
development, particularly where they are dealing directly with
the public—for example in taking bookings over the Internet—so
that the Games and all the surrounding events are genuinely accessible
worldwide.
4. ENGAGEMENT
WITH THE
VOLUNTARY SECTOR
Concern is already being expressed by smaller
voluntary sector organisations within the heritage and arts sector
that they feel marginalised by the Olympics discussions. Heritage
Link is in discussion with LOCOG to address this, but it is something
which the Committee should be aware of; for the Games to be successful
in reaching the widest possible communities engagement with smaller
organisations will be essential, otherwise community groups may
feel disenfranchised.
4.1 To this end, it is somewhat surprising
that the heritage sector is not properly represented on the Creative
and Cultural Forum, chaired by the Minister of Culture, David
Lammy MP, which is meant to be steering the cultural sector's
response to the Olympics. The only representation is from the
Heritage Lottery Fund, whilst the Government's own heritage advisor,
English Heritage, is not on the group.
3 October 2006
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