BEFS, Author at Built Environment Forum Scotland

2 Feb 2022

Get The Latest Built Environment News, Policy Developments, Publications, Consultations And More.

BEFS News

BEFS congratulates Neil Gray on his appointment as Minister for Culture, Europe & International Development, and looks forward to working together. Warm wishes to Willie Coffey who is the new deputy convenor of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, succeeding Elena Whitham who now convenes the Social Justice & Social Security Committee.

On 25 January BEFS gave evidence on the draft NPF4 to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, along with BEFS Members RIAS, RTPI Scotland, Planning Democracy, and Planning Aid for Scotland (PAS). BEFS evidence reflected our ongoing engagement with Members on NPF4, with further opportunities to input planned for early March.

Scotland’s heritage was front page news last Sunday, as Dr David Mitchell of Historic Environment Scotland (HES) suggested that some sites could be left to fall into managed decay rather than being conserved. BEFS supports the public nature of this debate, and in line with our previous work on prioritisation, champions a holistic approach to all of our existing built environment. On the blog, BEFS vice-Chair Ian Baxter, Professor of Historic Environment Management at Heriot-Watt University, continues the conversation by asking whether we are heading for a good death for Scotland’s heritage.

HES has also this week unveiled its refreshed grant programmes following a review of the existing schemes and a wider public consultation. The new programmes will be rolling out through 2022. You can keep up to date with developments at HES via their new e-newsletter, Lintel.

The partnership behind the Place Standard tool have launched a new website – Our Place – devoted to promoting the benefits of place and place-based working. The site will help to support communities, public, third and private sectors to take forward place-based approaches, helping to make positive differences across communities in Scotland.

Entries are now open for the RTPI Scotland Awards for Planning Excellence. Submissions are open until 11 March.

Museums Galleries Scotland have shared details of the new Museums Recovery Fund from Scottish Government. Applicants should contact MGS regarding their proposed applications by 25 February.

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Consultations

Building Regulations – Compliance And Enforcement: Consultation
Closes 4 February 2022

Heat in buildings – National Public Energy Agency: consultation – call for evidence 2021/2022
Closes 8 February 2022

NatureScot Consultation: Developing with Nature guidance
Closes 4 March 2022

New realities of retail and ecommerce in Scotland – Call for Views
The Scottish Parliament’s Economy and Fair Work Committee is seeking written views to inform its inquiry on town centres and retail.
*NEW* Closes 16 March 2022

Local Development Planning – regulations and guidance: consultation
Closes 31 March 2022

Open Space Strategies and Play Sufficiency Assessments: consultation
Closes 31 March 2022

Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) – Public Consultation
Closes 31 March 2022

Consultation Responses

BEFS Response to the Role of Local Government and its cross sectoral partners in financing and delivering a net-zero Scotland – consultation (21/01/2022)

Culture Counts: Consultation on Energy Efficiency of Non-Domestic Buildings (20/01/22)

Edinburgh World Heritage: Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review consultation response (21/01/22)

Publications

Historic Environment Scotland Grants Framework 2021 Onwards (31/01/22)

Historic Environment Scotland COVID-19 Sector Survey Reports (24/01/22)

Future of Arts & Culture: Drivers and Impacts for the Next Decade
An international study based on 300 participants, leaders in museums, galleries, performing arts, music, funding organizations, curators and producers.

Land Reform and Taxation: Advice to Scottish Ministers (Scottish Land Commission, 01/2022)
This report sets out the Scottish Land Commission’s advice on the role of taxation in supporting current land reform objectives.

NPF4: Mainstreaming Climate Change? (SPICe Spotlight, 21/01/22)

NPF4 and the nature emergency (SPICe Spotlight, 21/01/22)

Architecture & Design Scotland Annual Review 2021

Scottish Civic Trust Doors Open Day 2021 Report

DASH report 2021: from pandemic to future planning (25/01/22)
The second Digital Attitudes and Skills for Heritage (DASH) survey report offers a unique insight into how the UK heritage sector’s use of digital has evolved during the pandemic.

Scottish Government Publications

Planning circular 1/2022: Local Place Plans (21/01/22)

Short-term lets legislation approved (19/01/22)

Short term lets – licensing scheme part 1: guidance for hosts and operators (25/01/22)

Scottish Household Survey 2020 – telephone survey: key findings (28/01/22)
Includes findings on Housing, Neighbourhoods and Communities, Culture and Heritage.

News Releases

New measures to manage impact of climate change on Scotland’s national heritage sites (SCN, 21/01/22)
The HES programme of tactile condition surveys on over 200 properties will assess the extent of deterioration of high-level masonry.

Pandemic has cost some places nearly a years’ worth of high street sales (Centre for Cities, 24/01/22)
Edinburgh lost nearly a years’ worth of sales during the pandemic, while Aberdeen saw a 5.6% increase in unit vacancy.

Charity to build first broch in Scotland for more than 2000 years (STV News, 25/01/22)
Archaeological charity Caithness Broch Project has released a digital image of what the attraction is expected to look like.

In pictures: Scotland’s climate story in art and images (BBC, 26/01/22)
The winners of the Historic Environment Scotland Visions of Climate Heritage competition have been unveiled.

Investigation into Glasgow School of Art fire fails to find “definitive cause” (Dezzen, 26/01/22)

Local place plans circular published (The Planner, 28/01/22)

Braemar Castle secures funding to begin restoration (SBI, 31/01/22)
After three years of community fundraising, capital works at Scotland’s first community-run castle are getting under way.

Opinion & Comment

LGiU Blog: Seven Scottish towns take action against climate change (24/01/22)
Anja Ekelof, Communications Manager at Architecture and Design Scotland (A&DS) discusses the company’s role in the ‘Climate Action Towns project’.

Agenda: Scotland’s Covid recovery will grow successfully from nation’s grassroots (The Herald, 25/01/22)
Phil Prentice, chief officer of Scotland’s Towns Partnership, argues that the only truly sustainable way to rebuild our national economy is by starting locally.

Edinburgh World Heritage: On-street communal bins – Updated Statement (28/01/22)
EWH has raised concerns that proposed mitigation measures do not go far enough to prevent harm to the World Heritage Site.

Leigh Sparks: Stirling – all at C (28/01/22)
Comments on Stirling’s plans for an out-of-town retail and mixed-use development, from Leigh Sparks, the Institute for Retail Studies, University of Stirling.

Gabriella Bennett: Why we still need a ‘crap towns’ list (The Sunday Times, 30/01/22)
A side effect of highlighting inequalities is that those in local government who control the purse strings take notice after a public shaming.

What price heritage? Scotland’s ancient buildings to be left to the elements (The Herald on Sunday, 30/01/22)
Dr David Mitchell, HES Director of Conservation, examines the challenges of protecting the nation’s historic structures.

Rosemary Goring: Should Scotland’s most historic buildings be allowed to fall into ruins? (The Herald, 2/02/22)
Sadly, preserving everything as it currently stands will soon not be possible.

Calls to allow people to return to Edinburgh’s Radical Road (BBC, 2/02/22)
The route has been closed for more than three years after 50 tonnes of rock fell from cliffs onto the path.

The Construction Material Pyramid (CINARK – Centre for Industrialised Architecture)
A visual interactive tool comparing the carbon footprints of different construction materials.

Parliamentary Questions

Questions marked with a triangle are initiated by the Scottish Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.Questions in which a member has indicated a declarable interest are marked with an “R”.

S6W-05962: Mark Griffin, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 27/01/2022
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on implementing the recommendations of the Scottish Parliamentary Working Group on Tenement Maintenance in relation to owners (a) in tenements forming owners’ associations, (b) and building reserve funds and (c) and five-yearly building condition reports, which it committed to support through voluntary and incremental change until legislation is in place.

S6W-05963: Mark Griffin, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 27/01/2022 R
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the Scottish Law Commission in relation to carrying out a law reform project to provide a draft Bill that would implement the recommendations of the Scottish Parliamentary Working Group on Tenement Maintenance.

S6W-06013: Stephen Kerr, Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date lodged: 28 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what resources it plans to invest in order to enable regional and local institutions to apply deliberative approaches to engage civic society in planning for the net zero future of their communities and places.

S6W-05784: Stephen Kerr, Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date lodged: 25 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to enforce the incorporation of whole life carbon into the costing of all public sector investment and spending decisions.

Alex Rowley, Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: 25 January 2022
Passivhaus standards for newbuild housing:
S6W-05871 recommendations by Climate Assembly
S6W-05872 impact on bills and emissions
S6W-05873 climate targets

Parliamentary Questions & Answers

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Government:
S6W-05774 what steps it takes to audit the quality of past energy efficiency and retrofit works, and what its plans are to review works where it is found that PAS 2035 standards have not been met.
S6W-05775 when it will require compliance with PAS 2035 standards for its energy efficiency and retrofit delivery programmes.
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 27 January 2022

S6W-05796: Alasdair Allan, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party, Date lodged: 20 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reconsider the extent to which PAS 2030 and PAS 2035 ventilation standards need to be applied in its Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland: Area Based Schemes (HEEPS: ABS) and Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland: Warmer Homes Scotland (HEEPS: WHS) programme for homes in rural areas with high average windspeeds.
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 27 January 2022

S6W-05673: Liam Kerr, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date lodged: 17 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when in 2022 it expects the consultation on detailed proposals for introducing regulations on minimum standards of energy efficiency for all private housing to begin; what the duration of the consultation period will be, and when it expects to publish the results of the consultation.
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 24 January 2022

Events

For the full list of BEFS Members’ upcoming events see our events calendar.

Falkland Society: Rory Young: His Life and Work
Date & Time: 9 February, 19:00
Online
Rory is a stone sculptor and ‘artificer’, one who makes things, always well-considered and beautiful. He has been called the ‘Prince Charming of the ‘Lime Revival in Britain’. He carried out the lime-based works to the Sea Captain’s House in Kirkcaldy. The West Doorway of York Minster is probably his most famous work.

Glasgow City Heritage Trust: Where are the Women?
Date & Time: 9 February, 19:30
Online
Can you imagine a different Glasgow, a city where women are commemorated in statues and streets and buildings? Join author Sara Sheridan as she talks about her guidebook to that alternative city. Her 2019 book Where are the Women? remaps Scotland as if women’s achievements were memorialised in our built and rural landscape in the same way as men’s are.

Aberdeen City Heritage Trust: Retrofit the North – Calum Maclean Architect
Date & Time: 9 February, 19:00 – 20:00
Online
In this first Aberdeen Heritage Lecture of 2022 and following COP26 in Glasgow last year , Calum will provide insights into how to go about retrofitting traditionally constructed and historic buildings.

Date & Time: 9^th February 1800-1930
Online
RSA Fellows’ Media, Creative Industries Culture & Heritage Network extends an invitation to all to register for “International Cultural Relations: Evaluation and Evidence” with speakers Ian Thomas (British Council) and Professor J P Singh (George Mason University USA, and formerly of University of Edinburgh).

Draft National Planning Framework 4: Information & Discussion events
Date & Time: Series of events from 10 February to 10 March
Online
The Scottish Government has opened registration for online events during February and March, facilitated by Kevin Murray Associates (KMA) and PAS (Planning Aid Scotland) to raise awareness and share views about the Draft NPF4, in order to inform and support the preparation of responses to the consultation, which closes on 31 March 2022. Each session will focus on a specific action area, or policy theme from Draft NPF4. Upcoming events are:
Thurs 10 Feb, 12.30 – 2pm – Northeast Transition
Tues 15 Feb, 12.30 – 2pm – Northern Revitalisation
Thurs 17 Feb, 4.30 – 6pm – Liveable Places

AHSS: Not Dead Space – Edinburgh’s Five World Heritage Site Graveyards
Date & Time: 14 February, 18:30
Online
Dr Susan Buckham describes the history, development and significance of the five WHS burial grounds over their long lifetimes and explores how best to breathe new life into them in a sustainable way, in order to support their heritage values and their role as urban greenspaces.

Training

Jedburgh CARS: Repairing Traditional Windows and Doors
14 February, 18:00 – Evening Talk & Demonstration
15 February, 09:30 – Full Day Workshop
Location: Jedburgh Town Hall
Free, advance booking required
Jedburgh Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) are working with Frew Conservation to deliver a series of individual day and evening sessions tailored for tradespeople and homeowners, respectively. Upcoming is Repairing Traditional Windows and Doors, with an evening event aimed at homeowners on Monday 14 February at 6pm, and a full-day workshop for tradespeople on Tuesday 15 February, beginning at 9:30am.

Living Streets Scotland: Walkable Communities Two-Part Webinar
Date & Time: 8 & 22 February, 10:00 – 11:45
Online
Living Streets Scotland invite you to their two-part webinar series which offers a fresh perspective on walking infrastructure: what it is and how to get it. They encourage local authorities, active travel advocates, and equalities groups to join them in their mission to find a route to walkable neighbourhoods that everyone can travel. Register separately for Part One and Part Two.

Vacancies

Edinburgh World Heritage: Head of Engagement
Edinburgh World Heritage is looking to appoint a Head of Engagement to communicate the work and value of our organisation, and of Edinburgh as a World Heritage Site, maximising the impact of our reputation, income, profile and engagement. The Head of Engagement leads, and provides strategic direction for, the communications, interpretation, advocacy and learning and engagement programmes, as well as developing and implementing our fundraising strategy.
Closing date: 7 February, 10am

The Cockburn Association: Assistant Director (Fundraising and Outreach)
Hours: Full time with possibility of flexible working and hours
Location: Old Town, Edinburgh with flexibility for hybrid, home-working arrangements
Salary: £27,000
For further information and job specification, please email director@cockburnassociation.org.uk or call 0131 557 8686.
Closing date: 18 February

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2 Feb 2022

BEFS vice-Chair Ian Baxter considers the difficult decisions that lie ahead for Scottish properties in care.

In a recent piece in the Scottish Herald on Sunday, Dr David Mitchell, HES Director of Conservation, examines the challenges of protecting the nation’s historic structures.

The difficult decisions and changes that might take place for Scotland’s ‘properties in care’ are discussed within the context of finding the right balance between conservation, repair, maintenance and access. Whilst the piece does refer, perhaps erroneously, to the potential of ‘losing’ some of our historic structures, it also gives more insight into the ongoing inspection work at more than 200 properties.

BEFS supports the public nature of this debate, and champions a holistic approach to all of our existing built environment. Previously BEFS have led on a strand of Prioritisation work with the Our Place in Time Built Heritage Investment Group; details can be found here.

BEFS vice-Chair Ian Baxter, Professor of Historic Environment Management at Heriot-Watt University commented within the Herald piece; here he continues that difficult, but necessary, conversation:

There’s no easy way to say this – we need to talk about all that stuff we’ve collected, conserved, curated, played with a while ago and then left behind, abandoned in a heap, ignored, forgotten or never really wanted dealt with. We have kidded ourselves that a rainy day would come where we could sit down and look at it properly; and re-fix the repair that was done a while ago when we knew a bit less and didn’t have the right glue, but needs doing again. That rainy day – in the form of climate change, financial pressure, and burgeoning needs elsewhere in society, has arrived.

Let’s face it, this has been a niggling thought at the back of the mind when we have walked past it every day, and we’ve dusted things occasionally, rearranged some and repurposed others, but we’ve never really had to think too much about the rest. But, some of those things have now reached a tipping point, and maybe even a point of no return – and we need to consciously think about and publicly talk about those things which are cherished and which in theory we’d like to hang on to, but now have to face facts.

The trouble is, we know it’s all of importance to ourselves or someone else nearby, and our collective “endangerment sensitivity” means that the conversation itself is acutely awkward – it’s going to be even more polarised and provoke more righteous indignation in some quarters than ever before.

We know engagement with heritage can do so many good things, and we’ve just been winning the argument as a sector, being accepted as having something to positive to say about the economy, vibrant places, social cohesion, sustainability, education and creativity. Are we seriously saying now that we’re going to give up on some stuff? Well, frankly, we’ve got to pivot again – to rehearse that politician’s magic trick of communicating the positives in philosophies that might otherwise be seen as in contention with each other.

When considering prioritisation in 2019 BEFS held several events for the sector. One included a palliative care specialist discussing the importance of appropriate actions, some of which might be not intervening; which can seem against our better judgement – but can provide the right outcome ultimately. In letting go and engaging with loss in a very real future timeframe (as opposed to saving ‘forever for everyone’), we can learn and grow as part of the ‘grieving process’ ultimately enabling a good death.

So, we need to re-prioritise our priorities – again. Historic Environment Scotland has courageously spoken up about its own challenge, and it’s up to us now in the sector to manage change with a renewed urgency; and to turn the challenge into new opportunities for understanding heritage and our relationship with its physical health, risks to it, and its ultimate longevity.

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19 Jan 2022

Get The Latest Built Environment News, Policy Developments, Publications, Consultations And More.

BEFS News

BEFS is delighted to welcome a new Trustee to our Board. Fernanda Acosta Ballesteros, of Archaeology Scotland, brings her experience from diverse roles and organisations across the cultural heritage sector, as well as a focus on engagement, community heritage, inclusion and diversity. BEFS warmly thanks Eila Macqueen as she steps down from the Board after six years.

Ahead of yesterday’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee debate on Retrofitting of Properties for Net-Zero, Patrick Harvie wrote to the committee to set out the Scottish Government’s position, and SPICe published a spotlight blog taking a closer look at the issues involved.

Opening the debate, it was good to hear Committee Convenor, Ariane Burgess, mention a fabric-first approach, the known skills shortage, and VAT as she acknowledged the scale of the challenge ahead. Questions were raised by Fergus Ewing in relation to tenements, along with support for BEFS report Why Flats Fall Down. Although the Scottish Government work plan is currently delayed, previous work by the Tenement Working Group was rightly referenced by Paul Sweeney as an area where progress can be made. Read the debate transcript here.

Meanwhile, work on NPF4 continues, and SPICe have published a central hub for briefings, blogs, and online resources as parliamentary scrutiny of the draft progresses. A new blog from Hazel Johnson, BEFS Policy & Strategy Manager, outlines the results from BEFS initial engagement with Members in forming a response to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee’s call for views.

Museums Galleries Scotland have shared details of new funding from the Scottish Government. The Museum Capital Resilience Fund will support capital costs that impact the long-term resilience of Scottish museums. All applicants should contact MGS regarding their proposed applications no later than 5pm on Friday 4 February 2022.

As part of the Empire, Slavery & Scotland’s Museums project, MGS also have a follow-up survey that investigates the work museums and galleries in Scotland have done, or plan to do, in relation to the historical impact and lasting legacy of Scotland’s links to the British Empire and colonialism. The survey is open until 7 February.

2022 is Scotland’s Year of Stories. The second round of applications to the Community Stories Fund, which will support organisations and community groups to deliver public facing activities and events taking place in Scotland during 2022, will open on 24 January until 18 March 2022.

The deadline for entries for the Scottish Civic Trust’s My Place 2022 Awards, which celebrate community-led built environment projects, has been extended to 13 February.

Finally, the Architectural Heritage Fund have also welcomed two new Trustees to their Board, while Jenny Gilruth, Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, has today announced the appointment of Hugh Hall as the new Chair of Historic Environment Scotland. Congratulations to all.

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Consultations

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee – Call for Views: The role of local government and its cross-sectoral partners in financing and delivering a net-zero Scotland
Closes 21 January 2022

Building Regulations – Compliance And Enforcement: Consultation
Closes 4 February 2022

Heat in buildings – National Public Energy Agency: consultation – call for evidence 2021/2022
Closes 8 February 2022

Local Development Planning – regulations and guidance: consultation
Closes 31 March 2022

Open Space Strategies and Play Sufficiency Assessments: consultation
Closes 31 March 2022

Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) – Public Consultation
Closes 31 March 2022

Consultation Responses

BEFS Response to the Committee for Local Government, Housing and Planning – Call For Views on NPF4 (10/01/2022)

BEFS Member responses to the committee’s call for views: Archaeology Scotland, RTPI, SURF

Publications

Scottish Homeowners’ Views on Making Domestic Buildings Energy Efficient: Awareness, Challenges, and the Way Forward (Novoville Insights, 18/11/21)

Levelling Up and social needs: An analysis of government’s progress (NPC, 11/01/22)
NPC investigate where Levelling Up money is going and how it compares with public priorities.

SPICe Spotlight: Retrofitting homes for net-zero (13/01/22)

Learning Points: A Blue-Green Strategy for Kilmarnock Town Centre (Architecture & Design Scotland, 19/01/22)
A&DS gathered a group of experts to see how good practice in blue-green infrastructure could be applied to the East Ayrshire regeneration strategy for Kilmarnock Town Centre.

Rebuilding Heritage Resources
Collected blogs, guides, and toolkits from the NLHF-funded support programme to help the heritage sector respond to the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scottish Government Publications

Building standards – (fire safety) external wall systems: consultation analysis (17/01/22)

UK Government Publications

UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2022
This report outlines the UK government and devolved administrations’ position on key climate change risks and opportunities. The risk assessment considers UK-wide climate risks across multiple sectors of the economy and priorities several for action.

News Releases

Scotland Regeneration Capital Grant Fund: Projects set for £25m funding boost (The Herald, 03/01/21)
22 projects in locations across Scotland which will share £25 million of funding.

Project appoints mentors to help develop traditional skills in Fife (Project Scotland, 14/01/22)
The Inverkeithing Heritage Regeneration project has appointed Roz Artis and William Napier to work with individuals and SMEs in Fife who wish to develop traditional skills within their workforce.

‘Wallunteers’ build it better at Bannockburn House (Scottish Construction Now, 17/01/22)
The Bannockburn House Trust completed the then biggest urban community buy-out in the UK in 2017. A team of 20 volunteers have so far repointed more than 150 square metres of wall.

Hill House Box shortlisted for EU contemporary architecture prize (The National, 17/01/22)

One of Edinburgh’s oldest buildings to host culture project inspired by climate crisis (The Scotsman, 18/01/22)

Archaeological research in the Highlands (National Trust for Scotland, 14/12/21)
The National Trust for Scotland has 17 properties that fall within the Highland Council area and are therefore covered by the recently published Highland Archaeological Research Framework.

Opinion & Comment

D avid Lonsdale: Local councils must act to boost our town centres (The Herald, 7/01/22)
The director of the Scottish Retail Consortium argues newly-elected council administrations this Spring must ensure their policies and approach towards retail are supportive.

Podcast: What does the future hold for cities? (RSA Bridges to the Future, 11/01/22)
Matthew Taylor is joined by two Harvard economists, Edward Glaeser and David Cutler, to examine the history and future of the global city.

Edinburgh’s St Giles Cathedral could be handed over to Historic Environment Scotland as part of radical shake-up by Church of Scotland (Edinburgh News, 11/01/22)

M. Nolan Gray: Stop Fetishizing Old Homes (The Atlantic, 11/01/22)
Considering the American city, city planner Gray argues that whatever your aesthetic preferences, new construction is better on nearly every conceivable measure.

A look ahead at the coming year (Scottish Land Commission, 12/01/22)
Chief Executive Hamish Trench looks ahead to the Commission’s focus in 2022.

David Williams: Planning’s second century needs to learn from the errors of its first (The Planner, 14/01/22)
Instead of ‘creating place’, planners should focus on improving existing heritage -not just listed buildings and conservation areas, but the whole built fabric.

Home truths on the challenge to make Scotland a net zero nation (The National [Subscribers], 16/01/22)
Homes account for around thirteen per cent of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions, and over two million need to be retrofitted to meet net zero targets.

Timothy Brittain-Catlin: Are Scotland’s baronial castles worth saving? (Apollo, 16/01/22)
Scotland is strewn with baronial ruins like those of Buchanan Castle; many more have been demolished.

Parliamentary Questions & Answers

S6W-05062: Liam Kerr, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 14/12/2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the best and most cost effective way to insulate traditional granite homes, such as those in the north east and Aberdeen; what the reasons and evidence are for its position, and how it plans to support the decarbonisation of such homes.
Answered by Patrick Harvie (06/01/2022)

S6W-05067: Liam Kerr, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date lodged: 15 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Historic Environment Scotland publication, Guide to Energy Retrofit of Traditional Buildings, regarding the need for “an extensive programme of domestic retrofit” and the part that “the existing built environment, including older or historic buildings, will need to play…in the national refurbishment effort”.
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 January 2022

S6W-05393: Colin Beattie, Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party, Date lodged: 24 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what level of funding can be provided by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to stabilise and develop the site of Mavisbank House in Loanhead; what engagement HES is undertaking with relevant stakeholders to take forward development of this site; what short-term developments HES anticipates for this project, and whether HES will take a leadership role in the site’s development.
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 January 2022

S6W-05249: Willie Rennie, North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Date lodged: 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the climate emergency, and in regard to energy saving and efficiency improvements delivered through its national fuel poverty scheme and other related schemes, what action it has taken to ensure that improvements that are made to homes prioritise environmentally-friendly technologies and heating systems.
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2022

Other Parliamentary Activity

Subordinate Legislation on Short-Term Lets Considered by The Local Government, Housing And Planning Committee on 21 December 2021 (published 12/01/22)

Letter from Patrick Harvie, Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee Convener regarding Retrofitting Housing for Net Zero – January 2022 (11 January 2022)

Retrofitting Housing for Net Zero – Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee Debate (18 January 2022) Scottish Parliament TV Recording, Transcript

Events

For the full list of BEFS Members’ upcoming events see our events calendar.

AHSS Strathclyde Group: Conservation in Post-War Scotland
Date & Time: 20 January, 19:30
Online
Gordon R Urquhart, historian and author, charts the development of architectural conservation in Scotland from late 18th-century antiquarianism through to the emergence of a popular (and professional) conservation movement in the tumultuous postwar era.

ICON Archaeology Group: Conservation of the Galloway Hoard
Date & Time: 27 January, 12noon
Online £10 / Icon Members free
The Galloway Hoard was found in 2014 and an exhibition is now on tour in Scotland after extensive research and conservation work. It was a true conservation challenge having a variety of material (glass, rock crystal and other minerals, minerally preserved organics) in addition to the precious metals. This lecture will be given by Martin Goldberg (curator) and Mary Davis (conservator).

SPAB Scotland: Milling Matters – John O’Groats Corn Mill
Date & Time: 1 February, 12noon
Online: £6 / £5 members or £21 for all four lectures
In the first in a series of four ‘Milling Matters’ lectures from SPAB Scotland and Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust, Rognvald Brown, chairman of the John O’Groats Mill Trust will present the experiences of the Trust with re-establishing this B listed former corn mill in Caithness as a heritage visitor attraction and community venue.

Scottish Historic Buildings Trust: The Port House, Jedburgh
Date & Time: 1 February, 18:00
Online
Built in 1899 to the designs of Architect James Pearson Alison, the Port House, originally a Co-operative department store, had fallen into disrepair in recent times and was on the Buildings at Risk Register before being saved by the Jedburgh Community Trust. In this presentation, Emma Berry, a Partner and Advanced Level Conservation Architect at LDN Architects, will discuss the project from its inception to its imminent completion.

Heritage Trust Network: At the Heart of the Community – A Future for Your Church
Date & Time: 3 February, 10:00 – 11:30
Online
Heritage Trust Network and Historic Churches Scotland are joining forces to host this event for any community group contemplating the future of their church building. We will hear a case study from Dinah McDonald, trustee of Historic Kilmun, who will talk about their journey to taking ownership, building repairs, fundraising and the current focus of becoming sustainable.

SoAoS: Diversity is not a silo: routes to anti-racist work in Scottish heritage
Date & Time: 7 February, 18:00
Online
Dr Churnjeet Mahn will discuss what we need from the past to make more inclusive futures for BAME groups across Scotland. Case studies will explore how BAME people in Scotland are systematically excluded from the educational and organisational structures that underpin the management and public understanding of heritage in Scotland. Rather than being part of decision making on ‘national’ bodies, or in the board rooms of influential organisations, BAME people are more likely to be found in ‘community’ settings or events. How do we begin to think beyond silos of diversity?

Training

Arts & Business Scotland: Culture and Business Scotland Conference 2022
Date & Time: 10 February, 14:00 – 17:00
Online
Hosted by BBC Scotland’s Arts Correspondent Pauline McLean, this event welcomes the business, public, and culture sectors to come together to discuss how engaging with creativity and culture can be the key to not simply surviving but thriving in the face of key collective universal challenges.

Vacancies

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BACK

19 Jan 2022

Hazel Johnson, Policy & Strategy Manager, sets out the initial results of BEFS NPF4 engagement and outlines the work ahead.

Back at the start of November 2021, the much anticipated draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) was launched for consultation. The deadline for responding is the 31st of March – now marked with a red circle in diaries and calendars across the sector. The end of 2021 saw plans laid and conversations begun to allow the new year to start with a bang, as we work towards a joined up sector response, collectively championing the existing and historic built environment within this important planning document. It has been a busy few weeks.

At the start of January, BEFS chaired a roundtable discussion to inform a response to the Committee for Local Government, Housing and Planning Call for Views which was submitted for the 10th January deadline.

This initial response outlines key areas of interest and concerns felt by the sector, and we will be building on this over the coming weeks.

Overview of the draft NPF4

This new draft incorporates elements of previous National Planning Frameworks and Scottish Planning Policy (SPP); it provides a long-term plan for Scotland which sets out where development and infrastructure are needed. The NPF4 will also guide spatial development, set out national planning policies, designate national developments and highlight regional spatial priorities. As such great scrutiny and care will be given to assessing whether the NPF4 provides the coherence, clarity and detail required by decision makers throughout planning.

The draft document is structured in four parts:

Part 1 – A National Spatial Strategy for Scotland 2045
Part 2 – National Developments
Part 3 – National Planning Policy
Part 4 – Delivering Our Spatial Strategy

The four main themes within the Spatial Strategy are Sustainable, Liveable, Productive, and Distinctive places. The historic environment – whilst well represented within Distinctive Places – isn’t currently as present within Sustainable, Liveable, and Productive Places.

Despite this, there is generally much to be praised in the draft NPF4’s approach to protections for the historic and existing built environment. Where it perhaps falls down is in how it all hangs together and how the different sections relate to each other. Some omissions prompt additional concerns; for example, there is no meaningful reference to the wider policy landscape and other key policies such as the Historic Environment Policy for Scotland (HEPS), Planning Advice Notes and other documents signposted in SPP. This is underlined by a lack of clarity of status, consistency and read-across of Parts 1 and 2 into Part 3.

The sector has an opportunity here to raise up the very real benefit and contribution that the historic and existing built environment make, advocating for their representation across the piece, within sustainable development, homes, climate change, jobs and infrastructure. It is perhaps worth noting that the Position Statement in February 2021 was a much stronger on this, with the draft NPF4 seeming to step back on some of the positive approach seen previously.

Policy

The 35 policies contained in Part 3 of the draft NPF4 are well intentioned and the overall direction is to be welcomed. A good starting point for anyone tight on time will be Policy 28 – Historic Assets and Places. Once again though, the issue is one of consistency and coherence; how these polices relate to each other should give us pause to consider whether this could lead them to be ‘traded’, due to the contradictions inherent in them. Over the coming weeks thought will need to be given to clarity of language, and further clarity sought on hierarchy throughout the strategies and policies in NPF4.

Delivery

At the start of 2021 the Position Statement indicated that the draft NPF4 would include a Delivery Programme. Perhaps not unsurprisingly given the scale and ambition of the document, it doesn’t do this – however the draft does state that a detailed Delivery Programme and Engagement Programme will be produced once the framework is adopted.

Without knowing what this might look like it is hard to draw any firm conclusions, other than to wonder how the somewhat aspirational strategies and aims outlined in the draft document can be adopted post March without transparency on how they will be delivered, including whether the necessary resource, supply chains, skills and budget can be found.

Get involved – a joined up sector response

Further discussion of the draft NPF4 will take place at the next Historic Environment Working Group in February, and we’ll also welcome wider participation from stakeholders at a round table in early March – details of this to follow soon. For any organisations and individuals preparing their own response, that would like to get in touch, BEFS will be glad to hear from you!

Summary

There is much to be optimistic about – the draft NPF4 has climate change, good places and sustainability at its heart, and has clearly sought to carry over key protections for decision making for the historic environment. The need to value, enhance, conserve and celebrate the historic and existing built environment is recognised, but within this the benefits of embodied energy, skills/employment and the role existing buildings and infrastructure can play towards meeting net-zero are not yet articulated.

We can build on the many positives; seek to highlight inconsistencies in the draft; show how the spatial strategies and polices can be fully integrated and look towards clear articulation of policy hierarchy. By presenting evidence and a united advocacy for our existing built environment we could see the NPF4 delivering, across the board.

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5 Jan 2022

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BEFS News

Happy New Year from all of us at BEFS! 2021 saw big changes at BEFS, and we go into 2022 with a brand new team. To help direct any contact you may wish to make with the BEFS team, you can read more about each of our roles below. We look forward to working with you in 2022 to advocate on behalf of Scotland’s existing built environment.

Ailsa Macfarlane – Director
Hazel Johnson – Policy & Strategy Manager
Jess Burrows – Communications & Membership Manager
Ilona McAllister – Company Secretary & Business Administrator

In a return to our previous schedule, this year the Bulletin will be sent on the first and third Wednesday of each month. If you have any news, publications, or events that you think might interest readers of the Bulletin, you can send details directly to Jess by email.

Next Tuesday 11 January is #HeritageTreasures day on social media. Get ready to share your favourite places, programmes, and projects.

Entries close on 6 February for the Scottish Civic Trust’s My Place 2022 Awards, which celebrate community-led built environment projects, as well as for their My Place Photography 2022 competition for young people aged 4-18.

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Consultations

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee – Call for Views: National Planning Framework (NPF4)
Closes 10 January 2022

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee – Call for Views: The role of local government and its cross-sectoral partners in financing and delivering a net-zero Scotland
Closes 21 January 2022

Building Regulations – Compliance And Enforcement: Consultation
Closes 4 February 2022

Heat in buildings – National Public Energy Agency: consultation – call for evidence 2021/2022
Closes 8 February 2022

Local Development Planning – regulations and guidance: consultation
Closes 31 March 2022

Open Space Strategies and Play Sufficiency Assessments: consultation
Closes 31 March 2022

Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) – Public Consultation
Closes 31 March 2022

Publications

Dundee Cultural Recovery: a policy report. King’s College, London. England, L. (2021)
The findings highlight the significant contribution and performance of the cultural and creative sector prior to Covid and outlines a critical pathway for recovery.

Scottish Government Publications

Targeted funds for culture and events (03/01/21)
Details of a financial package worth £65 million for culture and major events have been confirmed by the Culture Secretary Angus Robertson.

News Releases

Scotland Regeneration Capital Grant Fund: Projects set for £25m funding boost (The Herald, 03/01/21)
22 projects in locations across Scotland which will share £25 million of funding.

Scheme to preserve ancient craft skills expanded across island of Ireland (Irish Examiner, 03/01/22)
The initial bursary scheme saw six students undergo training in Northern Ireland to learn the skills needed to maintain historic monuments and buildings.

More than 400 churches close in a decade amid ‘shocking’ threat to parishes (Paywall, The Telegraph, 03/01/22)
Analysis by The Telegraph shows nearly 1,000 have closed in just over 30 years.

Aberdeen Council lawyers to be called into action on controversial high-rise A-listing(Press & Journal, 01/01/22)
The Council is considering seeking a judicial review after the A listed status of five tower blocks was upheld by the Scottish Government at appeal.

West Lothian plans new ‘town of tomorrow’ with futuristic neighbourhood (Edinburgh Live, 30/12/21)
Winchburgh, as it grows, will be home to one of Scotland’s pioneering new town concepts – the 20-Minute Neighbourhood.

South Ayrshire Council zero emissions plan could cost up to £575m to put in place (Daily Record, 28/12/21)
A report on retrofitting existing local authority properties has produced three options with costs ranging from £205m to £575m.

Opinion & Comment

Ariane Burgess: All of us will have to play a part in bringing our homes up to standard(John O’Groat Journal, 01/01/22)
Ariane Burgess MSP, Convenor of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, on the need for a ‘fabric first’ approach to a national home retrofitting project.

Janey Douglas: Upgrading listed buildings is key to the net-zero drive (The Herald, 30/12/21)
Most of today’s commercial real estate will still be in use in 2045 when Scotland plans to be net zero. The only way we can feasibly hit this target is to upgrade buildings already in use.

Simon Jenkins: Churches could double as banks, or even serve beer. We can’t leave them empty (The Guardian, 31/12/21)
These mainly listed buildings sit at the heart of almost every community – we are squandering a precious legacy.

Parliamentary Questions

S6W-05393: Colin Beattie, Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: 24 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what level of funding can be provided by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to stabilise and develop the site of Mavisbank House in Loanhead; what engagement HES is undertaking with relevant stakeholders to take forward development of this site; what short-term developments HES anticipates for this project, and whether HES will take a leadership role in the site’s development.

Parliamentary Questions & Answers

S6O-00551: Christine Grahame, Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date Lodged: 08/12/2021
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has taken to support town centres.
Follow-up question from Christine Grahame: Is current compulsory purchase legislation sufficient to permit a local authority to take ownership and redevelop vacant town centre retail stores?
Follow-up question from Siobhian Brown, Ayr, Scottish National Party
What further action could be taken to improve the appearance of our town centres, where many shops lie empty and are deteriorating, along with derelict land and buildings?
Taken in the Chamber on 16/12/2021

S6W-05223: Paul Sweeney, Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether a presumption in planning policy against the demolition of existing buildings will be incorporated into National Planning Framework 4 in order to meet the carbon reduction measures that were agreed at COP26.
Answered by Tom Arthur on 23 December 2021

Events

For the full list of BEFS Members’ upcoming events see our events calendar.

RSA Fellows’ MCICH Network: Re-Purposing Heritage
Date & Time: 18 January, 18:00 – 19:30
Online
Learn about two great examples of Italian heritage buildings finding a new purpose in the modern world. These very different projects began before the pandemic, one in 2000, one later. Both were challenging, as Charlotte Horton and Paolo Petrocelli will explain via illustrated presentations followed by facilitated debate. For exploration are challenges and opportunities since, post pandemic, many heritage buildings – both urban and rural – assume new lives and purpose.

EWH: Hiding in plain sight: the legacy of slavery and colonialism in Edinburgh
Date & Time: 20 January, 18:00 – 20:00
Online
In this free new talk, Nicholas Hotham, former Head of Engagement at Edinburgh World Heritage, will present an objective view of Edinburgh’s connections to slavery and colonialism during the 18th and 19th centuries, and ask what, if anything, we should do about it.

HES: Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford: “The Delilah of his Imagination”
Date & Time: 20 January, 14:00
Online
Join Kirsty Archer-Thompson, Collections and Interpretations Manager at Abbotsford, as she discusses what Scott was trying to achieve in terms of Abbotsford’s composition and curation, using examples from the fabric of the building alongside the collections housed within, to illustrate how he created a space for the celebration of history, memory and storytelling.

Training

CIfA: Inclusion Awareness Training
Date & Time: 12 January, 14:00 – 15:00
Online, £15 (CIfA Members £10)
The training session will cover how to recognise conditions such as Dyslexia, DCD/Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, ADHD and Autistic Spectrum Condition at work. This workshop is ideal for line managers, those who work alongside neurodiverse colleagues and/or neurodiverse individuals who wish to suggest changes or make adaptations to workplace behaviours or task management.

Vacancies

Glasgow City Heritage Trust: Heritage Officer (Grants)
GCHT seek a Grants Officer to support the implementation of the Trust’s new Historic Built Environment Grants programme for the benefit of all people living and working in and visiting Glasgow. Managing a caseload of external grants, the core of this role is working closely with residents, communities, professionals and contractors in Glasgow in support of the Trust’s Strategic Plan to promote the benefits of safeguarding, enhancing and engaging with Glasgow’s Historic Built Environment.
Closing date: Noon, 17 January

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22 Dec 2021

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BEFS News

Kate Forbes delivered the budget statement in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 9 December. Find the full statement and accompanying documents below, under Scottish Government Publications. BEFS Director, Ailsa Macfarlane, gives her overview of place and historic environment within the draft budget on the BEFS blog.

Attention is also drawn to several newly released Consultations and Calls for Views. Committees seek early responses on NPF4 and on the role of local government and its cross-sectoral partners in financing and delivering a net-zero Scotland. Meanwhile, a closing date of 31 March has been set for new consultations on Local Development Planning and Open Space Strategies and Play Sufficiency Assessments, along with the public consultation on the draft NPF4.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2021 SURF Awards for Best Practice in Community Regeneration, who were announced on the 9th December at a celebratory presentation event in Glasgow.

BEFS was delighted to see Hannah Smith, ICE, has been invited to join the Just Transition Commission. Congratulations also go to BEFS Board Member, Tyler Lott Johnston, who becomes SPAB Scotland Chair.

As part of the Facing Our Past project, the National Trust for Scotland has published an interim report on the connections between the properties in their care and historical enslavement.

BEFS is very pleased to back Stirling’s bid for UK City of Culture 2025. Stirling is the only Scottish city to make the UK longlist.

A Call for Papers is now open for Archaeological Research in Progress (ARP) 2022, a one-day conference presenting new research ?ndings and best practice in archaeology, taking place 28 May 2022. The deadline for proposals is 27 Feb 2022.

BEFS remains hopeful of holding a social event for Members and Associates at the end of January, but given the current uncertainty around potential restrictions, now looks forward to issuing invitations in the New Year.

Finally, BEFS Team and Board wish all of our readers a relaxing festive period, and a happy New Year.

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Consultations

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee – Call for Views: National Planning Framework (NPF4)
Closes 10 January 2022

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee – Call for Views: The role of local government and its cross-sectoral partners in financing and delivering a net-zero Scotland
*NEW * Closes 21 January 2022

Building Regulations – Compliance And Enforcement: Consultation
Closes 4 February 2022

Heat in buildings – National Public Energy Agency: consultation – call for evidence 2021/2022
Closes 8 February 2022

Local Development Planning – regulations and guidance: consultation
*NEW * Closes 31 March 2022

Open Space Strategies and Play Sufficiency Assessments: consultation
*NEW * Closes 31 March 2022

Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) – Public Consultation
Closes 31 March 2022

Publications

20 Minute Neighbourhoods in draft NPF4 (SURF, 29/11/21)

Historic Opportunities: How heritage-led regeneration can drive town centre change (Lichfields, 1/12/21)

RTPI Scotland responds to budget (10/12/21)

Culture Counts responds to the budget (16/12/21)

Interim report on the connections between the properties now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland and historical enslavement (NTS 20/12/21)

Levelling up policies should target disparities between entire regions and within them (Bennett Institute 16/08/21)

The role of ‘Place’ in collaborations between HEI’s and the Arts and Cultural Sector (11/2021)

Scottish Government’s response to Scotland’s Climate Assembly Goal 3: Retrofitting Homes

Scottish Government Publications

The Scottish Budget 2022-23 has been published with the following accompanying documents:
Scottish Income Tax: 2022-2023
Equality and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement 2022-23
Changes to Scottish Income Tax for 2022 to 2023: factsheet
Scottish Income Tax: distributional analysis 2022-2023
Scottish Rate Resolution 2022-23: motion and explanatory note
Public sector pay policy 2022 to 2023
Public sector pay policy 2022 to 2023: equality impact assessment
Investing in Scotland’s Future: Resource Spending Review Framework
The Scottish Government’s Medium Term Financial Strategy

Regeneration Capital Grant Fund: projects in some of Scotland’s more disadvantaged and rural communities will share more than £25 million of funding (SG, 17/12/21)

News Releases

12 European heritage sites shortlisted for the 7 Most Endangered Programme 2022 (Europa Nostra, 14/12/21)

GHA’s Bell Street development wins another design award (Scottish Housing News, 17/12/21)

Help for residents who faced £330k bill for major roof works to Aberdeen tenement (Scottish Housing News, 20/12/21)

Opinion & Comment

Move over Mack, Scotland’s forgotten architectural geniuses deserve their moment in the limelight (The Herald, 11/12/21)

Parliamentary Questions

S6W-05062: Liam Kerr, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date Lodged: 14/12/2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the best and most cost effective way to insulate traditional granite homes, such as those in the north east and Aberdeen; what the reasons and evidence are for its position, and how it plans to support the decarbonisation of such homes.

S6W-05067: Liam Kerr, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 15 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Historic Environment Scotland publication, Guide to Energy Retrofit of Traditional Buildings, regarding the need for “an extensive programme of domestic retrofit” and the part that “the existing built environment, including older or historic buildings, will need to play…in the national refurbishment effort”.

S6W-05249: Willie Rennie, North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the climate emergency, and in regard to energy saving and efficiency improvements delivered through its national fuel poverty scheme and other related schemes, what action it has taken to ensure that improvements that are made to homes prioritise environmentally-friendly technologies and heating systems.

Parliamentary Questions & Answers

S6W-04639: Jeremy Balfour, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 25 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on its Single Building Assessment programme, and when it anticipates the programme will be concluded.
Answered by Shona Robison on 10 December 2021

Motions

Motion ref. S6M-02425
Sauchiehall Avenue Wins National Urban Design Award 2021
Submitted by: Kaukab Stewart, Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party.
Date lodged: Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Motion ref. S6M-02531
The Furniture Project (Stranraer) Wins Prestigious Regeneration Award
Submitted by: Finlay Carson, Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.
Date lodged: Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Motion ref. S6M-02530
Fraserburgh Wins SURF Award for Scotland’s Most Improved Place 2021
Submitted by: Liam Kerr, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.
Date lodged: Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Motion ref. S6M-02522
RIG Arts Wins Creative Regeneration Category at 2021 SURF Awards for Best Practice in Community Regeneration
Submitted by: Stuart McMillan, Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party.
Date lodged: Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Events

For the full list of BEFS Members’ upcoming events see our events calendar.

SCT: My Place 2022 Awards open for entry
Entries close 6 February 2022
The My Place Awards celebrate community-led built environment projects. Eligible projects include new buildings, historic buildings or monuments that have been reused or refurbished, designed public realm schemes (streetworks, parks) and designed landscapes (gardens, public green spaces).

SCT: My Place Photography 2022 competition open for entry
Entries close 6 February 2022
My Place Photography Competition is a Scotland-wide built environment photography competition for young people aged 4-18. If you’re a teacher, home educator or leader of a youth group, having your young people participate in the competition encourages them to explore their local area and experiment with using photography as a means of creative expression.

Vacancies

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21 Dec 2021

BEFS Director gives an overview of place and the historic environment in the draft Scottish Budget.

The Scottish Government published its draft Budget 2022-2023 on 9^th December with details on the funding across all portfolios, including that of Historic Environment Scotland within the Economy, Fair Work and Culture portfolio.

We are living in very different times, and budget considerations (and portfolio alignments) have altered significantly over recent years – with covid restrictions, the associated health implications, as well as wider net zero aims and potential societal shifts (accelerated due to covid) to be considered by those examining the fiscal position for Scotland.

This overview highlights a few headline figures which may be of interest across the breadth of the existing built environment but, we suggest that all those with a detailed interest explore the document in full before drawing any more detailed conclusions.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES): the budget helpfully includes a meaningful reference to the contribution our historic environment plays in relation to Net Zero. “We will continue to promote access to our historic environment, and high-quality places and buildings to support communities contributing principally to the culture, and also Net Zero, national outcomes.” (p94)

The total operational costs forecast for HES in 2022-23 is £96.9 million, an increase of just under 6% on the previous year’s budget. The budget forecasts an income generation of £33.3M which at this point in time (and the budget was released just as Omicron concerns increased) could seem anything from ambitious, to woefully understated. It is of note that the HES Annual Report for 2020-2021 states their commercial income was £ 8.2M (p7) – an 87% reduction on 2019-2020. The significant change in income due to covid remains an ongoing concern. Therefore, whilst there is a significant increase in Government funding to HES (up around 25% on 2021-2022 – from £55.9M to £70.1M) this should be seen as a pragmatic measure reflecting the state of tourism, hospitality, and ongoing restrictions, rather than a windfall.

In line with last year, but unlike previous years, the budget makes no comment on HES’ role as a grant funder. Prior to the 2021-2022 Budget, the Scottish Government had detailed around £14.5M grant funding annually through HES for more than a decade. The importance of these grants across the sector cannot be emphasised enough; with HES one of the few funders able to fund both organisations as well as building fabric. Sector stability, and the community impact of organisations and projects working with Scottish Government funding, through HES’ dispersal of these grants, positively impacts our people, and our places, across the breadth of Scotland.

Further draft budget figures across culture and the built environment have been compiled in a table below.

A significant increase is seen for Creative Scotland & Other Arts, and the Major Events & Themed Years budget increases as could be expected when considering the challenges across this part of the sector over the past 20 months. For further detailed comment in relation to cultural spend, please see the analysis from Culture Counts, which can be found here.

The Planning Budget’s increase on 2021-2022 figures seems disappointing in the face of the Planning Act implementation, and the ongoing work in relation to the National Planning Framework 4. Further comment on this can be found from the RTPI, in their budget response statement. The reduction in the Planning & Environmental Appeals Budget (p54) (from £0.7M to £0.6M) is also a concern which I hope reflects genuine efficiencies, rather than reductions in capacity.

A reduction in the Registers of Scotland budget also suggests that access to data (such as through ScotLIS) will not be taking the necessary steps forward in the timeframes many of us would advocate. Without access to data about our existing housing stock, delivering net zero will be an almost impossible task.

However, the increase in Cities & Investment Strategy is a positive sign if applied meaningfully across Scotland’s places. This increase is perhaps balanced with a reduction in City Region and Growth Deals in Local Authority budgets, reducing from the £11.2M last year to £7.2M this year (remaining at almost double the 2020-2021Budget). As well as a reduction in the Regeneration Budget from £111.6M last year, to £96.4M for 2022-2023 (albeit still more than double 2020-2021 figure).

Tourism Spending Plans – return to similar levels to 2020-2021; not perhaps reflecting a sudden resurgence in the tourism market, but a more pragmatic reflection of where else funds need to be invested.

Within the Local Government Funding outwith Core Settlement (p48) we can see that the Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland (HEEPS) has a significant increase. However, the Vacant & Derelict Land programme remains at £5M.

When considering net-zero, the Climate Action & Just Transition fund see a substantial increase from £29.8M last year, to £49.1 in this budget.

With so much still unclear as a further wave of Covid variant increases restrictions, and curtails personal and economic activity – how this budget can rebuild communities, support our existing places, and deliver net zero is a question on which we may have to wait some time for the answer.

	2019-20 Budget	2020-21 Budget	2021-22 Budget	2022-2023 Budget
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Architecture and Place	1.4	1.4	1.5	1.5
Building Standards	0.9	2	16.7	11.8
Planning	6.5	8.3	11.5	13.7
Planning and Environmental Appeals	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.6
More Homes	788.7	896.1	748.1	744.3
Fuel Poverty/Energy Efficiency	119.6	135.2	187.7	194.3
Cities & Investment Strategy		205.6	209.8	233.2
Regeneration	42.3	47.4	111.6	96.4
Vacant and Derelict Land Grant	11.4	7.6	7.6	7.6
Creative Scotland and Other Arts	66	67.3	63.2	69.3
Cultural Collections	74.6	79.2	75.7	90
Major Events and Themed Years	16.8	6.6	8.2	18.2
Culture and Major Events Staffing	4.3	4.4	4.7	5.1
National Performing Companies	22.9	22.9	22.9	22.9
National Parks	13.4	13.9	17.5	18.5
Natural Resources, Peatland and Flooding	4.6	29.7	44.1	56.4
Scottish Environmental Protection Agency	34.4	37.1	43.5	41.4
NatureScot	46.5	49.1	50.2	49.6
Zero Waste	20.5	16.5	40.2	43.4
Land Reform	15.6	15	14.9	12.3
Tourism		50.6	65.1	51.2
Climate Acton & Just Transition		28.7	29.8	49.1
Scottish Land Commission	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.6
City Region and Growth Deals		3.8	11.2	7.2
Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company		5	5	5
Capital
Capital Land and Works		22	22	18.9
City Region and Growth Deals		201	198.1	226
Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland (HEEPS)		55	58	64
Regeneration Capital Grant Fund		25	25	25
Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme		–	5	5
Place Based Investment Programme (was Place, Town Centres and 20 Minute Neighbourhoods)		–	23	33

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8 Dec 2021

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BEFS News

As scrutiny of the draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) document gets underway, BEFS will hold a roundtable in early January to discuss the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee call for views. Further opportunities for discussion of the draft National Planning Framework in full will be available at the Historic Environment Working Group (HEWG) meeting on 23 February (BEFS Members and Associates), and at a planned workshop in early March which will be open to wider sector participation.

Aberdeen Art Gallery has won the RIAS 2021 Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award, following an ‘outstanding’ refurbishment and extension by Hoskins Architects.

Congratulations too to Archaeology Scotland, who are joint winners of the Engagement and Participation award at the Archaeological Achievement Awards. Over on the BEFS blog this week, Maria Gundestrup of Archaeology Scotland looks back at the online and in-person events of Scottish Archaeology Month 2021.

Scottish Civic Trust’s My Place Awards 2022 are now open for entries. The My Place Awards celebrate community-led built environment projects. Eligible projects include new buildings, historic buildings or monuments that have been reused or refurbished, designed public realm schemes (streetworks, parks) and designed landscapes (gardens, public green spaces).

Scottish Civic Trust are also highlighting a community initiative to find a new use for Glasgow’s Egyptian Halls. The public consultation is open until 20 December.

BEFS wish Stuart Beattie well as he retires from Scotland’s Churches Trust. Stuart has been a champion of heritage over many years, supporting grants, volunteers and research across the sector – as well as being a past Trustee of BEFS. We also warmly welcome Dr DJ Johnston-Smith as the new Director of SCT, and look forward to working with him from January when he takes up his new role.

BEFS also welcome Eilish McGuinness in her new role. She will take over from Ros Kerslake CBE, who announced in July she was stepping down as CEO of the Heritage Fund and National Heritage Memorial Fund after five and a half years.

December is traditionally the time of BEFS AGM, and this year was no different – if entirely virtual. The due process was swiftly completed, and we said farewell, and extended thanks, to Eila Macqueen who steps down from the Board after several years of insightful service. BEFS Members voted in favour of welcoming Archaeology Scotland’s nomination for the Board, Fernanda Acosta Ballesteros. We’ll let Fernanda introduce herself more fully in the new year. Early 2022 has plans for an in-person social gathering and an opportunity to meet BEFS Board, and BEFS Team.

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Low Carbon Learning (Construction Scotland Innovation Centre)

Understanding Scotland – The Scottish Wellbeing Index (Nov 2021)

Some observations on moving forward after COP26 (IHBC@COP26 Helpdesk+)

Heritage, Equity & the Climate Crisis: Lecture Series (Scottish Civic Trust, 12/11/21)

Fostering Sustainable Cities through Resilience Thinking: The Role of Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs): Lessons Learned from Two Italian Case Studies (21/11/21)

The Scottish Third Sector Tracker (SCVO 23/11/21)

Supporting our communities: Time to move from false competition to needs-based investment (RSA 29/11/21)

Scottish Government Publications

Scotland 2045: fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) – draft: integrated impact assessment – environmental report (29/11/21)

Scotland 2045: fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) – draft: lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions – research (29/11/21)

Scotland 2045: fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) – draft: society and equalities impact assessment (29/11/21)

Short term lets – draft Licensing Order and business and regulatory impact assessment: consultation report (23/11/21)

News Releases

‘Netflix for churches’ launched in bid to save crumbling places of worship (The Telegraph, paywall 24/11/2021)

Scotland Loves Local Awards winners revealed (25/11/21)

First Hampden Park campaigners in bid for World Heritage Site status (The Herald, 27/11/21)

Application to list Crawick Multiverse as a designated landscape (The Scotsman, 1/12/21)

BRE helps build new embodied carbon database (BRE Group)

Solar panels approved for Edinburgh Castle (The Herald, 6/12/21)

£1m funding awarded for historic Stirling conservation projects (Scottish Construction Now, 6/12/21)

Glasgow University to lead HES ‘imperial connections’ mapping project of historic sites(The Scotsman, paywall, 8/12/21)

Opinion & Comment

Urban feminism: the answer to the failures of our blokey built environment? (The Fifth Estate, 23/11/21)

Place: the missing key for unlocking a circular economy (RSA Blog, 24/11/21)

Historic Photographer of the Year awards 2021 (The Guardian, 25/11/21)

Mark O’Neill: Hard choices ahead for Scotland’s built environment (Press and Journal, 26/11/21)

Gabriella Bennett: Improving tenements in Scotland needs smart thinking (The Times, paywall, 28/11/21)

Podcast: Carbon neutral? I don’t see how! (Scottish Housing News)

Podcast: If Glasgow’s Walls Could Talk, with accessibility consultant Emily Rose Yates (Glasgow City Heritage Trust)

Parliamentary Questions

S6W-04639: Jeremy Balfour, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 25 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on its Single Building Assessment programme, and when it anticipates the programme will be concluded.

Parliamentary Questions & Answers

S6W-04221: Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con)
Date lodged: 9 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government when it will confirm the date for the removal of the requirement for EWS1 forms, and their replacement with Scottish Government-funded Single Building Assessments.
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 November 2021

S6W-04365: Mercedes Villalba, North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: 15 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that home efficiency targets are delivered in the (a) private rented sector and (b) social rented sector, without tenants having to take financial responsibility for the targets being met.
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 24 November 2021

S6W-04439: Liam Kerr, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 18 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to enforce the transition of buildings to an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C by 2033, and whether it plans to impose any restrictions or bans on sales of properties that have not achieved an EPC rating of C by 2033.
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 2 December 2021

S6W-04499: Paul Sweeney, Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: 18 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any implications of the ending of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), due to take place in March 2022, for the development and expansion of district heating schemes in Scotland.
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 2 December 2021

S6W-04535: Fulton MacGregor, Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: 19 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support insulation and sound mitigating measures for ceilings in flatted developments that do not currently have them.
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 2 December 2021

S6W-04583: Liam McArthur, Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: 23 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set a target of installing 1GW of solar PV capacity on public and commercial buildings by 2030, as recommended in the Scottish Renewables publication, Beyond COP26: Next steps for Scotland’s clean energy revolution.
Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 December 2021

Other Parliamentary Activity

Licensing of Short -Term Lets – SPICe Analysis of Survey Responses (25/11/21)

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee: Evidence Submission from the Existing Home Alliance Scotland on the Retrofitting of Existing Homes (25/11/21)

Motions

Motion ref. S6M-02375
Aberdeen Art Gallery Crowned Best Building in Scotland
Submitted by: Douglas Lumsden, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.
Date lodged: Friday, December 3, 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.

Motion ref. S6M-02442
Scotland Loves Local
Submitted by: Tom Arthur, Renfrewshire South, Scottish National Party.
Date lodged: Monday, December 6, 2021

Motion ref. S6M-02382
Scotland Loves Local Benefitting Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale
Submitted by: Christine Grahame, Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party.
Date lodged: Monday, December 6, 2021

Events

For the full list of BEFS Members’ upcoming events see our events calendar.

SoAoS: Presbyterianism and Philhellenism, 1821–56
Date & Time: December 13^th 6:00pm to 7:30pm GMT
Both in-person at NMS Auditorium and online via YouTube live.
Short description of event: This lecture explores the philhellenic writings and initiatives of these figures during the period between the outbreak of the Revolution and the end of the Crimean War, evaluating their significance within their wider Scottish, British imperial, and Greek contexts. It argues for the existence of a distinct, dissenting Presbyterian missionary philhellenism that was in turn linked with Britain’s political and colonial interests in the eastern Mediterranean.

AHSS: The Architectural Legacy of Sir Walter Scott
Date & Time: 13 December, 18:30
Online or in-person at the Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh
This talk with Simon Green looks at the influence Sir Walter Scott had on the ‘Scottishness’ of Scottish architecture, and how his celebration of the Medieval past fuelled a re-examination of ancient buildings. As we shall see, the Scots Baronial in its varied manifestations is indebted to Scott, but so too, through William Morris, is the Arts & Crafts Movement.

Training

Arts & Business Scotland: Hybrid working
Date & Time: 9 December, 12:00 – 13:30
Online: via Zoom
This webinar will provide practical guidance and insights into the move towards hybrid working and flexible working arrangements and the employment law implications. Delivered by Employment Lawyers from Anderson Strathern, the session will cover:
• Top tips on managing a hybrid working policy.
• How discrimination risks can be identified and mitigated
• How can mental health and capability issues be appropriately managed
• Can staff be made to work from home?
• What if everyone wants to work from home?
• What if the home is outside the UK

Arts & Business Scotland: Contracts
Date & Time: 13 December, 12:00 – 13:00
Online: via Zoom
This webinar will cover key issues and considerations around entering into contracts and contracting generally in a COVID 19 and post pandemic world. Delivered by Scott Fyfe, Associate, Corporate from Anderson Strathern, the session will cover:

• Contracting in a COVID19 and post pandemic world

• Essential clauses including those covering cancellations and restrictions due to COVID-19.

Vacancies

Heritage Trust Network: Heritage Trainee (Graduate)
The Heritage Trust Network is recruiting for a new post of Heritage Trainee (Graduate) for a fixed term of 6 months. This post has been designed to help the successful graduate develop on-the-job skills and knowledge to help them gain early-career access to the heritage sector.
Closing date: 13 December

RTPI Scotland: Intern Project Officer
The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Scotland branch are looking for a motivated person who can use collaborative and analytical skills to support the engagement of the Scottish membership with the scrutiny of the draft NPF4. This paid internship will be key in helping to deliver RTPI’s engagement strategy through the important formal consultation process before a final draft is presented to the Scottish Parliament.
Closing date: 15 December

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7 Dec 2021

Maria Gundestrup of Archaeology Scotland reflects on this year’s events.

Scottish Archaeology Month (SAM) takes place every September. It has run for over 30 years and is Scotland’s biggest celebration of heritage, history, and archaeology. It happens alongside Doors Open Days, and both are part of the European Heritage Days led by the Council of Europe.

Every year, organisations, communities, local societies, and heritage groups participate in SAM by organising a range of in-person events, running social media campaigns or other digital activities. This year, the programme offered a great variety of events, online and offline, throughout the whole month and with a broad geographical scope.

Bringing together local archaeology

First of all, SAM encompasses independent archaeology and heritage festivals that take place during September, including the well-established East Lothian Archaeology and Heritage Fortnight led by East Lothian Council’s archaeology department and the Highland Archaeology Festival run by the Highland Council. Three years ago, the Badenoch Heritage Festival was added as part of the Badenoch Great Place Project and is now organised by local heritage groups. These all provide a greatly varied programme in their local areas.

Another regular feature is Stirling Archaeology Month, and the area was as always bustling with events. The programme was dominated by guided walks around historical sites, including Stirling’s old cemetery, the Old Bridge, the town centre and the Wallace Monument. Other events included an Open Day at the Old Kilmadock graveyard near Doune and a guided walk around the site. Furthermore, the village of Gargunnock hosted a heritage walk, an Open Day of the local kirk and a 19th century service!

In-person activity at The Big Dig

The biggest event this year was The Big Dig in Falkirk, organised by the Great Place Project at Falkirk Community Trust. The event ran throughout September and featured a week-long dig and three weekends alternating between a full-day activity hub and The Big Garden Dig. The activity hubs offered family and children’s activities and re-enactments in a new park each week, making it possible for more people to attend. The Big Garden Dig encouraged people to dig in their gardens and explore the story of their house through the finds.

Another region that was busy this year was Dumfries and Galloway. As a region that actively participates in Doors Open Days, this year saw a lot of focus on archaeology as well as built heritage. The many events included a variety of guided walks, including a dendrochronology-themed woodland tour, test-pitting and trial excavations, museum open days and even a Viking encampment!

Digital events widened participation

Aside from all the in-person action, online events were still very popular. Throughout the month, there were several well-attended online talks on topics as varied as Columba’s Iona, the Viking Age in the Borders, and Iron Age architectural traditions in the Outer Hebrides, among others. Together with the Council for British Archaeology, Archaeology Scotland hosted an online mini-tour of Scotland for the youngest aspiring archaeologists to promote the Young Archaeologists Clubs, which completely sold out. A different way of engaging in SAM through digital media was the National Museum of Scotland’s creation of a website dedicated to their digital resources concerning the archaeological collections.

As with all other events, Scottish Archaeology Month has had to adapt to the Covid-19 pandemic and ran mainly online as a social media campaign in 2020, developing into a hybrid festival in 2021. Most events were back to being in-person this year, as event organisers and audiences alike seemed keen to get out. However, the digital aspect appears to be here to stay. Online activities make a specific country or area’s heritage more accessible to a broader audience and can benefit participation across demographic and geographical borders.

Image: The Big Dig, Denny Hub by Vass Media (copyright)

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24 Nov 2021

Get The Latest Built Environment News, Policy Developments, Publications, Consultations And More.

BEFS News

The Scottish Government has published the draft Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4), alongside a consultation which runs until Thursday 31 March. An accompanying explanatory report on the framework’s Housing Land Requirement has also been published.

A letter from the Convener of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee proposing a collaborative approach to committee scrutiny forms useful additional context.

BEFS will organise a virtual event in early January ahead of a consultation response, giving Member organisations opportunity before then to digest the detail of the draft. BEFS notes that, currently, the Historic Environment largely sits within ‘Distinctive Places’, and there is an opportunity to flag the role that the existing built environment can and should play within Sustainable, Liveable, and Productive Places. BEFS looks forward to further discussion with Members.

Meanwhile, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Scotland along with Heads of Planning Scotland have written to Finance Secretary Kate Forbes urging her to address the need for investment in the planning service in forthcoming Scottish budget.

Historic England and Historic Environment Scotland have announced the launch of a new AHRC-funded cross-border research pilot programme, ‘Outreach to Ownership’. Across the course of the next year a total of £125,000 will be given in grants to up to eight delivery partner organisations to support research into diverse approaches to inclusive community engagement in the culture sector. Applications are invited from a range of culture sector organisations of all sizes and governance structures in Scotland and England.

Registrations are also encouraged to the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s new research panel, UK Heritage Pulse. This collaborative data and insight project aims to bring people together from across the UK heritage sector with a view to informing strategy, recovery and reinvention post-Covid.

As we continue to look to the future beyond COP26, John McKinney of the Scottish Traditional Building Forum introduces ‘Build Your Future’ on the BEFS Blog. This suite of online and in-person activities is designed to promote construction as a career of choice to young people. Underlining the importance of traditional skills, it was good to see a visit to Historic Environment Scotland’s (HES) Engine Shed from Culture Minister Jenny Gilruth.

HES have launched their first dedicated climate change adaptation plan, as well as a new Climate Change Explorer app. They are also partners in a new film from the National Library of Scotland, #ClimateNeedsCulture.

The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2022 now open for submissions, with five categories revised to reflect the latest developments in heritage policy and practice in Europe. Read more and submit your applications here.

Congratulations to all those shortlisted for the Archaeological Achievement Awards, and to Gordon Castle Walled Garden in Moray, who have won the Historic Houses Garden of the Year Award with a record public vote.

Finally, Dig It! and Edinburgh-based game design company Dungeons on a Dime have teamed up to combine the latest archaeological research with a new tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) that will enable the public to learn more about life in Scotland 1,300 years ago. The Carved in Stone crowdfunding campaign launched on Saturday 13 November on Kickstarter with a range of digital, printed, and special rewards for supporters. The campaign has hit its first crowdfunding goal — but there’s still more adventure to unlock!

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Consultations

Scottish Building Regulations: Proposed changes to Energy Standards and associated topics, including Ventilation, Overheating and Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
Closes 26 November 2021

Draft Heat Networks Delivery Plan
*NEW* Closes 13 December 2021

Building Regulations – Compliance And Enforcement: Consultation
*NEW* Closes 4 February 2022

Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) – Public Consultation
*NEW* Closes 31 March 2022

Publications

Scotland’s Garden and Landscape History (SGLH): Autumn 2021 Newsletter

Scotland’s Churches: from surfeit to shortage? (Scotland’s Churches Trust, in collaboration with the National Churches Trust)

A 20 Minute Future: A Planning Concept for Urban Growth (RTPI Scotland, 10/11/2021)

Guide to Energy Retrofit of Traditional Buildings (Historic Environment Scotland, 11/11/21)

From Retrofit to Regeneration (Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance, 11/11/21)

Heritage Fund Local Area Guidance: Designed to help you meet our priority outcome: the local area will be a better place to live, work or visit. (National Lottery Heritage Fund)

Climate Ready Historic Environment Scotland (HES, 18/11/2021)

Creative Industries and Tourism Beyond Economic Development (UK National Commission for UNESCO and PRAXIS at the University of Leeds)

New SEDA guides on Air Quality in Airtight Homes (October 2021)

Historic Environment Scotland Annual Report and Financial Statements 2020-21 (23/11/2021)

Architectural Heritage Fund Annual Review 2020-21 (23/11/2021)

Scottish Government News Releases

The Draft Fourth National Planning Framework (Draft NPF4)

Hydrogen action plan: draft (10/11/2021)

Subordinate Legislation

The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) Order 2021

News Releases

Glasgow man ‘hasn’t switched on heating for two years’ after high flats refurbishment (Glasgow Live, 15/11/21)

Research captures and enhances value of UK culture and heritage: AHRC and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will support a new study to measure the value of UK culture and heritage (UKRI 19/11/2021)

Bowhill House to be heated by one of Scotland’s largest heat pumps (Historic Houses, 22/11/2021)

Opinion & Comment

We can save Britain’s heritage and embodied carbon (The Developer, 08/11/21)

Not just a pretty face — why preserve London’s facades? (Financial Times, paywall 12/11/21)

Cool reception for Edinburgh Castle’s solar panel proposal (The Times, paywall 16/11/21)

Global heating is destroying rock art tens of thousands of years old, experts warn (The Guardian, 16/11/21)

Neat enough for Pepys: Magdalene college Cambridge’s inventive new library (The Guardian, 23/11/21)

Podcast: When did you last change your mind? (RSA Bridges to the Future)

Parliamentary Questions & Answers

S6W-04031: Alex Cole-Hamilton, Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: 28 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that older buildings, which may be subject to stricter planning regulations, can become energy neutral, and what support it can offer to the owners of these buildings to help make their properties energy neutral.
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 11 November 2021

S6W-04067: Sharon Dowey, South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 3 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to introduce appropriate remuneration for board members of national culture and heritage public bodies, as referred to in A Culture Strategy for Scotland.
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 November 2021

S6W-03774: Liam Kerr, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 14 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its Heat in Buildings Strategy, what it is doing to ensure that colleges and schools have sufficient trained professionals to teach the skills required to deliver the strategy; what planning is taking place to create and provide such courses; what it is doing to encourage potential students to undertake such training; what it estimates the cost will be to local authorities of providing such training; where it anticipates local authorities will fund this from, and whether it will provide any financial support to local authorities for this.
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 11 November 2021

S6W-04058: Stephen Kerr, Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 1 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the percentage of non-electrical heat demand that is met by renewable technologies.
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 15 November 2021

S6W-04183: Monica Lennon, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: 5 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to announce the composition of the Green Heat Finance Taskforce.
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 19 November 2021

S6O-00383: John Mason, Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: 10 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what role Passivhaus homes and off-site manufacturing have in the Glasgow Shettleston constituency in supporting its aim to achieve net zero by 2045.

Motions

Motion ref. S6M-02029
Glasgow Traditional Building Forum Hosts COP26 Skills Demonstration Event
Submitted by: Paul Sweeney, Glasgow, Scottish Labour.
Date lodged: Thursday, November 11, 2021

Motion ref. S6M-02200
Net Zero and Construction: Perspective and Pathways
Submitted by: Monica Lennon, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour.
Date lodged: Friday, November 19, 2021

Events

For the full list of BEFS Members’ upcoming events see our events calendar.

Cupar Development Trust: AGM and Lecture
Date & Time: 30 November, 1745 for 1800
Online: via Zoom
The AGM agenda will be dealt with briskly, and the formalities will be immediately followed by a lecture by Euan Leitch, Chief Executive of SURF – Scotland’s Regeneration Forum.

Icon Scotland Group: 24th Annual Plenderleith Memorial Lecture
Date & Time: 2 December, 19:00 – 20:15
Online
Join Icon Scotland for our 24th annual lecture in memory of Dr Harold Plenderleith, one of the key founders of modern conservation. This year, our invited speaker is Sir Geoff Palmer OBE, Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University, renowned scientist and human rights activist, who currently chairs the Scottish Government as part of Empire, Slavery & Scotland’s Museums Steering Group. Sir Geoff will share his perspective on the steps the heritage sector is taking to come to terms with and address racism and invisible histories, and the challenges we must face to ensure more equal and representative material heritage in the future.

Archaeology Scotland: Dunfermline Abbey Churchyard Workshops
Date & Time: 4 – 5 December
Location: Dunfermline Abbey
The Abbey Churchyards’ books are the gravestones, ready to entertain us with tales of love, human tragedies and heroic acts. Sadly today, too many of these stories have not been checked out and are long overdue for new readers. This project shines a light on these forgotten tales so these stone books can become familiar and well-loved classics and treasured tombs for future generations to enjoy. Join us for two workshops to continue checking and photographing the records for the New Churchyard, start mapping and looking at the reinstatement of the buried stones excavation area.

ICE: John Rennie and the Aberdeenshire Canal
Date & Time: 6 December, 18:00 – 19:00
Online
For a number of years prior to 1793, the building of a canal from Aberdeen into the heart of Aberdeenshire had been a topic for discussion. In that year, a group of interested parties arranged for a feasibility study to be carried out in relation to the building of a canal from Aberdeen harbour to just short of Inverurie and thence to Monymusk. The Institution of Civil Engineers invite you to join them for an exploration of the role that Scottish engineer John Rennie played in the building of the Aberdeenshire Canal.

SHSMG: Using Social Media to Help with Fundraising
Date and Time: 7 December, 15:00
Online
The final Scottish Heritage Social Media Group virtual event of 2021 will see Kenneth McElroy, Director at the Caithness Broch Project and Education & Volunteer Officer at Kilmartin Museum discuss how he’s used social media to promote and run large online crowdfunders and smaller creative fundraising projects for organisations in the heritage sector, all while sharing tips that you can apply to your own work.

Training

• Contracting in a COVID19 and post pandemic world

• Essential clauses including those covering cancellations and restrictions due to COVID-19.

Vacancies

National Lottery Heritage Fund: Head of Investment (Scotland)
The NLHF are looking for a Head of Investment to lead their grant-making team in Scotland. The role will ensure excellent grant-making through leadership of the Fund’s Investment Team, effectively managing an annual grants budget of around £15m and working collaboratively with partner organisations and stakeholders.
Closing date: 28 November

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Overview of the draft NPF4

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Get involved – a joined up sector response

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Bringing together local archaeology

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Digital events widened participation

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