BCD 2018

USEFUL INFORMATION 6 175 C AT H E D R A L COMMU N C I AT I O N S C E L E B R AT I N G T W E N T Y F I V E Y E A R S O F T H E B U I L D I N G CO N S E R VAT I O N D I R E C TO R Y 1 9 9 3 – 2 0 1 8 • conserve the character of old towns and villages • assure a living role for ancient buildings. The UK’s programme of activity that year resulted in the establishment of the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) in 1976, with a fund of £1 million to provide loan capital to local preservation trusts. Support from the AHF, Europe, central, regional and local government led to an increase in the number of building preservation trusts across the UK, with many county trusts supported by local authorities. Trusts typically operated a revolving fund model: a BPT would take ownership of a building at risk, often through a back-to- back agreement with a local authority after enforcement action. The BPT would secure funding and restore the property, aiming to sell it after completion for a sustainable use. The proceeds would be used to pay off the AHF loan, with any surplus rolled forward to its next project. Great successes were achieved using this model across the UK. Public campaigns succeeded in preventing the demolition of neglected industrial sites at New Lanark, Iron Bridge and Cromford, all since designated as world heritage sites. Long-derelict buildings became homes or vital community facilities. Derbyshire Historic Building Trust won the prestigious Europa Nostra Award for architectural conservation for the Wirksworth Project in 1983. However, conservation projects are never easy. Members typically need a great deal of patience and determination, together with vision and public spirit. This is essential for persuading planners and funders how the restoration of what most people see as a derelict eyesore can create a beautiful and much-loved community asset. Members could be regarded by detractors as awkward, romantic or nostalgic, but the reality is that they are true environmentalists and conservationists, fighting the loss of centuries of skilled work, high quality materials and embodied energy. They are economic pragmatists with the foresight to see how conservation is the key to the long-term prosperity of a neighbourhood. UKAPT An overlooked recommendation of the 1971 Civic Trust report was for the establishment of a supporting organisation to provide for an exchange of information between BPTs. Displaying the patience and determination typical of the sector, this idea was revived at the AHF second annual conference in 1988, leading to the formation of the UK Association of Preservation Trusts in 1989. The association (UKAPT) was an independent charity formed ‘to encourage and assist BPTs, to expand their capacity to preserve the built heritage’. For the next 27 years it was highly regarded, helping to support and guide over 200 members to success, often with funding from AHF. It supported trusts at all stages of a project – from establishing a BPT, to campaigning and fundraising, to the day-to-day running of completed projects. From 1994, the arrival of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) provided a new funding impetus. Thanks to National Lottery players, between 1994 and 2014 BPTs secured funding for 364 projects over 19 grants programmes, totalling over £202 million. Other funders also entered the market and there has since been a steady growth of charitable trusts set up as vehicles to preserve heritage assets. These changes, and particularly the introduction of ‘clawback’ contract clauses for repayment on sale, have reduced the importance of the revolving fund BPT. In their place have grown single project preservation trusts, often having a variety of forms of legal constitution including community interest companies, charitable incorporated organisations and companies limited by guarantee. Furthermore, other types of heritage have been drawn into the preservation trust model, including parks and gardens, industrial heritage and even ships. By autumn 2017, there were known to be over 500 trusts in operation. The BPT movement, in its broadest sense, is now the primary vehicle for ensuring the sustainable viability of historic buildings and structures for public benefit. BPTs receive international recognition for their successes, with both Middleport Pottery (Prince’s Regeneration Trust) and Cromford Mills (Arkwright Society) recently winning the Europa Nostra conservation award. As budget cuts become ever tighter, local authorities and other public bodies are increasingly looking to BPTs to take on surplus public assets through capital asset transfer. Many of the major buildings saved for the public benefit are now brought back into viable use by preservation trusts: Hartlebury Castle, Llanelli House and Wentworth Woodhouse are all recent examples of the model in action. To these grand buildings can be added hundreds of ‘lesser’ buildings which are vitally important to local communities and to our national heritage. However, the UK Association of Preservation Trusts itself saw a substantial cut in its core funding which forced it to The restoration of Heckington Windmill in Sleaford, Lincolnshire was completed in July 2017, thanks to funders including National Lottery players, through the Heritage Lottery Fund. The rare, eight-sail windmill is owned by Lincolnshire County Council but it is operated and run on a voluntary basis by Heckington Windmill Trust.