Get The Latest Built Environment News, Events, Vacancies, Consultations And Publications In Our News Bulletin.
BEFS News
As the current BEFS Chair, Dr Graeme Purves, is stepping down at the next AGM in December, we are inviting expressions of interest from potential candidates for the role.
The Scottish Government’s cabinet reshuffle saw the importance of planning acknowledged with its inclusion in Kevin Stewart’s MSP new ministerial title, as Minister for Local Government, Housing & Planning.
The Local Government and Communities Committee has started to publish amendments to the Planning Bill that have been tabled for Stage 2, due to commence on 12 September. For all further information relating to the Bill, please visit the Committee page and the current Bills pages on the Scottish Parliament website.
Following a commitment to develop A Culture Strategy for Scotland, the Scottish Government is now consulting on a drat strategy.
BEFS is delighted to be involved in HES’ consultation process on their corporate plan, and features in the short #HelloHES film, along with some of our members.
Baillie Baillie Architects have kindly provided the beautiful accompaniment to their exhibition, Landscape & (Re)settlement / Cruth-tìre & (Ath)tuineachadh, exhibited at the Architecture Fringe 2018, for our blog this week: Traces.
As we enter into the summer festival season, check out BEFS suggestions for the Edinburgh International Book Festival. From early history to high rise, urban landscapes to bogs, there’s something for everyone!
Finally, we welcome our newest Associate Members, Groves-Raines Architects.
Consultations
Building Standards Compliance and Fire Safety – a consultation on making Scotland’s buildings safer for people
Opened 4 Jul 2018 and closes 26 Sep 2018.
The Environment, Climate Change & Land Reform Committee has launched an inquiry into the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 and a call for written evidence
The Committee will host a call for views from 29 June to 17 August 2018.
A Culture Strategy for Scotland
Opened 27 Jun 2018 and closes 19 Sep 2018.
Scottish Building Regulations: Review of Energy Standards: ‘Call for Evidence’
Opened 25 Jun 2018 and closes 14 Sep 2018.
Barclay Implementation: A consultation on non-domestic rates reform
Opened 25 Jun 2018 and closes 17 Sep 2018.
Consultation Responses
Publications
The Grimsey Review 2 – reshaping our town centres (Matthew Hopkinson 07/18)
Report of the Review Panel on Building Standards Compliance and Enforcement (SG 29/06/18)
Report of the Review Panel on Building Standards (Fire Safety) in Scotland (SG 29/06/18)
Transient Visitor Tax (COLSA 27/06/18)
Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland Delivery Report 2016/17 (SG 27/06/18)
Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 2017 (SG 26/06/18)
Green, pleasant and affordable (Onwards 25/06/18)
Independent Review of Build Out Rates – Draft Analysis (Rt Hon Sir Oliver Letwin MP 06/18)
Scottish Government News Releases
Support for first-time buyers (SG 30/06/18)
New tax relief to help people buy their first home. First-time buyers will be helped to purchase their first home through a new tax relief which comes into force today (30 June).
Ending homelessness (SG 27/06/18)
People who are living in temporary accommodation or at risk of homelessness are to be supported quickly into permanent homes through new investment of up to £21 million.
Decrease in derelict and urban vacant land (SG 26/06/18)
The total amount of derelict and urban vacant land in Scotland decreased by 844 hectares (seven per cent) from the previous year, to 11,649 hectares in 2017.
News Releases
Annual A&DS and RIAS Scottish Student Awards for Architecture 2018 results (RIAS 04/07/18)
A project outlining ideas for a new public library in Leith and an approach to providing fresh water in Havana, Cuba, win the top prizes at the annual Scottish Student Awards 2018.
Glasgow’s Historic Built Environment: A Snapshot (GCHT 25/06/18)
This page contains facts, figures and data collated between February and April 2018 which gives a snapshot of the current state of Glasgow’s historic built environment. A huge amount of information already exists, collected at different scales and times and kept in different places by different people. This page brings some of that information together into one place, and drills down to give an idea of what’s going on in Glasgow.
FutureTown Design Competition (STP 25/06/18)
Since 2015 members of the public and organisations have been able to enter ideas for their town or city neighbourhood to the FutureTown Design Competition. Organised by national towns agency Scotland’s Towns Partnership, the competition is aimed at stimulating conversations, provoking ideas and encouraging new approaches to highlight what our towns could look like now and in the future.
Statement on the Glasgow School of Art fire (HES 22/06/18)
Read our statement on the Glasgow School of Art fire, from Jane Ryder OBE, Chair of Historic Environment Scotland.
Plácido Domingo and EU Commissioner Navracsics announce Europe’s top heritage award winners 2018 in Berlin (EN 22/06/18)
The winners of the 2018 EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards, Europe’s top honour in the field, were celebrated this evening during a high-profile awards ceremony in Berlin, in the presence of the Federal President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier. They announced and presented the 7 Grand Prix laureates, chosen from among this year’s 29 winning achievements.
Stirling home to Scotland’s ‘Best Building 2018’ (HES 22/06/18)
As well as being named one of the best new buildings in Scotland at the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) 2018, The Engine Shed was awarded ‘Best Building 2018’ and ‘Best Use of Stone’ at the Stirling Society of Architects Design Awards 2018.
Planning absent from top table in 94% of councils in Scotland (21/06/18)
The planning function has been relegated to lower positions in the corporate structure of local authorities across Scotland, a new survey by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has revealed.
Oxford University and National Trust announce research partnership (UoO 21/06/18)
Marking the first investment of this kind by the National Trust in a university, the partnership will create new opportunities for interdisciplinary research, knowledge exchange, public engagement and training between the two organisations.
Opinion & Comment
Influencing the Scottish Planning Bill (RTPI Scotland 02/07/18)
Malcolm Fraser: The Mackintosh inferno and the questions it begs (Malcolm Fraser 30/06/18)
Scotland and the New Private Rented Sector (UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence 27/06/18)
How One Man Is Using Hip-Hop to Diversify Architecture (Rolling Stones 21/06/18)
Parliamentary Questions & Answers
Questions marked with a triangle (?) are initiated by the Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.
Question S5W-17320: Ben Macpherson, Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 18/06/2018
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the delivery of more affordable housing.
Answered by Kevin Stewart (19/06/2018)
Other Parliamentary Activity
The Scottish Parliament is in recess from 30 June to 2 September 2018 (inclusive).
Events
For the latest information about BEFS Members’ events see our events calendar.
Glorious Georgian Gardens of the New Town
Date: Thursday 13 September 2018, from 6pm.
Meeting Point: To be advised.
The world famous gardens of Edinburgh’s New Town boast an incredible variety of design and planting style, and add colour and harmony to our city’s urban landscape.
Join us for this special chance to access these beautiful gardens and discover their history and features. This tour will finish with a garden party drinks reception.
Vacancies
Head of Conservation
Are you a conservation specialist ready to lead our teams in conserving, presenting and promoting sites of international significance?
You will work within an integrated team of conservation and property professionals caring for, presenting and promoting some of Wales’ finest examples of built heritage. You will also form part of a wider senior team engaged in the protection, promotion and long-term sustainability of this unique division of the Welsh Government.
Closing date: 10 July.
RIAS Receptionist/ Bookshop Assistant
The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) is looking for an experienced receptionist to join our front of house team and bookshop. We are looking for someone that will be friendly, approachable, flexible, professional and welcoming.
Closing date 13th July 2018.
Scheme Administrator
The RIAS is looking for an experienced administrator to support the running and the development of the Design Certification Schemes provided by the RIAS. This includes performing day to day administration tasks. The Scheme Administrator is the first point of contact for those interested in joining the scheme, and will maintain an administrative involvement as applicants progress through the scheme to become Approved Certifiers of Design / Energy Assessors. The nature of the Schemes is described at www.RIAS-regs.co.uk The successful applicant will be responsible to the Head of Certification and the Practice Administrator.
Closing date 20th July 2018.
Dunoon Alliance for Action Facilitator (part-time)
SURF is seeking a part-time Facilitator to support its Alliance for Action programme site of Dunoon. Dunoon is one of five SURF Alliance for Action programme sites. The successful applicant will be responsible for helping to build on local demand for complementary economic, physical and social improvements in the town, following a successful SURF-managed 2017 ‘Think Dunoon’ Community Charrette.
The closing date for applications is Monday 23 July.
Grants Officer Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund
We are recruiting for a Fulltime Grants Officer on a 12 months Fixed term contract in our Scotland country office based in Edinburgh.
The primary purpose of this post is to assess applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund for grants in Scotland with a value up to £1million, and to monitor projects undertaken by successful applicants.
The closing date for applications is Midnight 15 July 2018 and interviews will be held in our Edinburgh office on 27 July 2018.
Building Standards Division (3 posts)
There are currently three vacancies being advertised within Building Standards Division of the Scottish Government: Construction Professional and Technical Author (Environment), Construction Professional and Technical Author (Procedures), S63 Programme Manager.
Application deadline is 3rd August at midnight
Glasgow City Heritage Trust, Projects & Events Officer
An exciting opportunity has become available for a entry-level professional to support the implementation of the Trust’s special projects and corporate events programme for the benefit of all people living and working in and visiting Glasgow. GCHT would like to pilot meanwhile use (“meanwhile use” is a term used to describe the interim temporary use of vacant property or land until such a time as it can be brought back into more permanent use) by taking on one or two buildings-at-risk on Glasgow City Council’s property portfolio over the next two to three years, either through short-term lease agreements or a license to occupy. The Project Officer would be the GCHT’s on-site contact for the scheme. You will also get involved in a series of smaller proactive projects the Trust is planning to run and manage (corporate) events supporting the charitable work of Glasgow City Heritage Trust.
The closing date for applications is Tuesday 31 July at 12 noon
Glasgow City Heritage Trust, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer (part-time – 2 to 3 days per week, to be agreed)
An exciting opportunity has become available for a part-time entry-level professional to develop monitoring and evaluation tools to demonstrate the impact of the Trust’s work for Glasgow’s historic built environment. The Trust wishes to know how change is being created by its grant aided work by measuring social, environmental and economic outcomes and presents these to funders and other stakeholders.
The closing date for applications is Tuesday 31 July at 12 noon
BACK
BEFS suggestions, from early history to high rise, urban landscapes to bogs, there’s something for everyone.
Sat 11 Aug 17:45 – 18:45 Garden Theatre £12.00, £10.00
Roma Agrawal & Anna Yudina
Meet two women with big ideas about the future of our cities. Roma Agrawal is a structural engineer who helped design The Shard. She’s passionate about the power of engineering to improve lives and shares her enthusiasm in Built. Curator and author Anna Yudina has a different perspective: in Garden City she argues that our urban spaces must incorporate more nature, more greenery, more biodiversity. Chaired by Andrew Franklin.
Sun 12 Aug 15:45 – 16:45 Spark Theatre on George Street £12.00, £10.00
Barry Cunliffe
THE RHYME OF THE EXPERT MARINER
In On the Ocean, Emeritus Professor of European Archaeology Barry Cunliffe turns his attention to the history of man and the sea, asking what inspired early man to voyage out into the great blue unknown. From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, from the simple first vessels to the sailors of the 16th century, he documents our restless quest that has been a driving force of human history. Chaired by Andrew Franklin.
Sun 12 Aug 19:30 – 21:00 Garden Theatre £12.00, £10.00
ReimagiNation Debate: Housing
HOW DO WE PROVIDE A HOME FOR EVERYONE?
Scotland’s 5 New Towns were built to alleviate urban overcrowding and poverty. Just over 70 years later, we have similarly pressing problems: housing shortages, a privately-owned rental market, and widely unaffordable house prices. Examine the future of housing with our panel: Roma Agrawal, structural engineer and author of Built, and John Boughton, author of Municipal Dreams: The Rise and Fall of Council Housing. Chaired by architectural historian Diane Watters.
Mon 13 Aug 10:00 – 11:00 Baillie Gifford Main Theatre £12.00, £10.00
Roger Billcliffe
MACKINTOSH AND THE GLASGOW STYLE
Best known for his architecture and furniture design, Charles Rennie Mackintosh was also an accomplished artist who along with three friends from the Glasgow School of Art were ‘The Four’ at the centre of the Glasgow Style of the late 19th century. In his beautifully illustrated new book Roger Billcliffe maps the graphic language of this illustrious group. Chaired by Susan Mansfield.
Mon 13 Aug 11:00 – 12:00 Garden Theatre £12.00, £10.00
John Boughton
The Grenfell Tower disaster brought home to many how dire our housing has become, fuelling the the housing crisis debate. The rise and fall of council accommodation is the theme of John Boughton’s book Municipal Dreams. The author and housing campaigner has closely examined council estates across the UK and is certain that regeneration and Right to Buy have created more problems than solutions.
Mon 13 Aug 14:00 – 15:00 Spark Theatre on George Street £12.00, £10.00
Dan Cruickshank
Colourful architectural historian Dan Cruickshank returns with his book about a building form, Skyscraper, that in fact originated in Edinburgh. Cruickshank’s focus is on the innovative 1890s, the era not only of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Otto Wagner but of Gilded Age Chicago. He charts the development of the high-rise; a symbol of modernity that’s now tainted by controversy and tragedy. Chaired by Sheena McDonald.
Mon 13 Aug 17:45 – 18:45 Garden Theatre £12.00, £10.00
Kirsten Carter McKee & E Patricia Dennison
SINGING THE PRAISES OF URBAN LANDSCAPES
The development of Scotland’s urban landscapes links the latest works from historians Kirsten Carter McKee and E Patricia Dennison. Edinburgh’s ‘Third New Town’ (aka Calton Hill and the surrounding area) is the focus for Carter McKee who finds that the architecture and design on the hill is a vivid demonstration of Scotland’s cultural identity. Dennison’s The Evolution of Scotland’s Towns considers urban heritage over 1,000 years, asking what we have lost and may continue to lose through neglect and fragmentation. Chaired by Sheena McDonald.
Tue 14 Aug 18:30 – 19:30 The Bookshop on George Street FREE: Book in advance
From Jane Austen to P G Wodehouse, music rooms have been the setting for the blossoming of partnerships and the thickening of plots. But in the memoirs of William Fiennes and Namita Devidayal the music room is a place of calm. Join Ruthanne Baxter, Museums Services Manager at the University of Edinburgh for an exploration of music rooms between book covers and across centuries.
Wed 15 Aug 17:00 – 18:00 Baillie Gifford Main Theatre £12.00, £10.00
Brian May & Roger Taylor
In the 19th century, Scotland was a pioneer of photography. A leading practitioner was George Washington Wilson, whose innovations in stereoscopic photography created some of the most captivating 3D images. Join photographic historians Dr Brian May (also the lead guitarist of Queen) and Professor Roger Taylor as they trace Wilson’s career, show key examples of his work using a stunning new 3D projection system and present their accompanying book, George Washington Wilson, Artist and Photographer, published by the London Stereoscopic Company.
Fri 17 Aug 10:30 – 11:30 Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre £8.00, £6.00
Gilbert Márkus
The period between 0 and 900AD is often dismissed as the Dark Ages but Gilbert Márkus has another view, and uses what he calls ‘luminous debris’ – bits and pieces of literary and material culture from the period – to shed light on the reality. In Conceiving a Nation, the Glasgow University researcher provides an entertaining introduction to Pictish kings, Norse settlements and Scotland’s early days. Chaired by Sheena McDonald.
Fri 17 Aug 12:15 – 13:15 Spark Theatre on George Street £12.00, £10.00
James Crawford
Few of us experience Scotland’s majesty from above. In his book Scotland from the Sky, based on the BBC Scotland series, aerial photography buff James Crawford gives us a bird’s eye view of our nation in both space and time, starting with what an early aviator saw from the cockpit and building up to the present day. What he finds is a story of conflict, countryside, innovation and people.
Sun 19 Aug 11:00 – 12:00 Garden Theatre £12.00, £10.00
Robin Crawford & Donald S Murray
MOORS AND BOGS DESERVE ANOTHER CHANCE
The moorlands of Scotland and beyond fascinate art historian Robin Crawford and playwright-poet Donald S Murray. Crawford discusses what he found after evaluating the peat areas of the Outer Hebrides for a year, documented in Into the Peatlands, while Murray extends his reach from Lewis and the Highlands to the Netherlands and Australia in The Dark Stuff, unpicking why these landscapes have been represented unfairly in folklore.
Sun 19 Aug 19:30 – 21:00 Garden Theatre £12.00, £10.00
Freedom Debate: Collective Care
In today’s world of individual freedoms and polarising beliefs, can we conceive of a structure of shared social responsibility and be sure it will work for the most vulnerable, those who find themselves at the edges of society? Using our prison and healthcare systems as models, the social activist and author of Radical Help, Hilary Cottam, examines the question with philosopher Edith Hall, designer Alice Rawsthorn, New Zealand artist and Professor Nancy Loucks, Chief Executive of the charity Families Outside.
Tue 21 Aug 19:15 – 20:15 Spark Theatre on George Street £12.00, £10.00
Richard Sennett
Richard Sennett has spent his career thinking about how to create environments in which people can live good lives. Building and Dwelling is the distillation of a lifetime’s work on a topic which has taken Sennett from New York and London to Medellin and Mumbai. Should urbanism represent society as it is or should it seek to change it? Have your say as Sennett discusses his ideas with Glasgow-based architect Jude Barber.
Wed 22 Aug 16:15 – 17:45 The Spiegeltent £12.00, £10.00
ReimagiNation: Scotland’s New Towns
For the last two years, social historian Daniel Gray has been searching for utopia. Appointed by the Book Festival as lead writer on our ReimagiNation project, Gray has gathered the stories of communities across Scotland’s five New Towns. Join him and a cast of local residents from Cumbernauld, Irvine, East Kilbride, Glenrothes and Livingston as they tell Scotland’s New Town story, 70 years after they were created.
Wed 22 Aug 19:30 – 21:00 Garden Theatre £12.00, £10.00
ReimagiNation Debate: Environment
How does our environment impact on our everyday lives? Just over 70 years ago, Scotland’s New Towns were designed to incorporate green space. Today, novelist and architect David F Ross joins author and nature writer Karen Lloyd whose latest book is The Blackbird Diaries, to discuss the interaction of nature and the built environment with social historian Daniel Gray, who has been chronicling the voices of Scotland’s New Town residents throughout the Book Festival’s ReimagiNation touring programme.
Mon 27 Aug 14:00 – 15:00 Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre £8.00, £6.00
Piers Dixon & Fiona Watson
Archaeologist Piers Dixon and medieval historian Fiona Watson have teamed up to produce A History of Scotland’s Landscapes. In this stunning book they present maps and photographs showing patterns and markings in fields, forests, mountains and roads. In doing so, they reveal the myriad ways that land use has changed over the centuries, from the passing of the Romans to the decline of heavy industry. Chaired by Rosemary Burnet.
BACK
An accompaniment to the exhibition, Landscape & (Re)settlement / Cruth-tìre & (Ath)tuineachadh, at the Architecture Fringe 2018, by Baillie Baillie Architects.
Former settlement ‘Torseiller’ in Strath Brora © Baillie Baillie Architects
The round-back cottages clung to the earth like long animals whose folded heads were always to the mountain. Lying thus to the slopes they were part of the rhythm of the land itself…There were little herds of these cottages at long intervals, and every now and then a cottage by itself like a wandered beast…
Neil M. Gunn (Butcher’s Broom)
As a society we often venerate historic settlements within bucolic landscape settings – tiny Tuscan hill towns, or remote alpine villages. But notions of building new housing within the natural landscape generally evoke a profoundly negative response. Indeed, this position is enshrined in planning policy. In Scotland, scatterings of small townships, perhaps best described by the Gaelic word clachan, once supported vibrant communities with a rich heritage and culture across much of the mountainous highlands. In the clearances of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, sheep were moved onto the land and people were forced out. By the Victorian era the sparsely populated landscape of much of the Scottish Highlands became commonly regarded as a romanticised wilderness. The Straths of Sutherland for example, like that described in Neil Gunn’s novel Butcher’s Broom, today remain comparatively deserted.
As a settlement pattern, the clachan is characterised by a close and reciprocal relationship with the land. Individual houses are informally situated, tracking the topography and set low, even burrowed into the earth. Tenancy of the land permitted space enough for small scale agriculture, resulting in a seemingly free and rhythmic spacing of cottages. There is a perceived continuity of the ground plane in these spaces between; a natural canvas that allows a cluster of buildings to be co-located and embedded within the landscape.
Community Land Scotland’s recent response to the Scottish Government’s Planning Bill consultation supports a case for re-settlement and renewal of some of the areas worst affected by historic forced clearances and continuing economic neglect. There are of course circumstances that call for strict control of development – designated green-belt zones being one example which are legitimately intended to limit the creep of suburban sprawl. However it also seems perverse that the crumbled ruins of settlements which were continuously and sustainably inhabited for many thousands of years are deemed to be scheduled monuments within wild land.
Perhaps the sceptical reaction induced by any and all new housing developments in so-called unspoilt locations is due to a deeply negative association with new housing and mass developer housing, i.e suburbia. If resettlement of cleared highland glens is to occur, it is pertinent that this perception is challenged. In the context of a discourse between preservation of the landscape and the resettlement of sustainable communities, it is imperative that not merely the fact of past depopulation is discussed, but that vernacular forms of dwelling and patterns of inhabitation, with their embedded cultural significance, and responsiveness to the landscape are considered and understood.
This is an old story. The realms of villages, townships, and in Scotland clachans, have seldom been the focus of recent architectural discourse. In response to rapid urbanisation through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, urban renewal defined the programme of the Modern Movement, and one must look back to the Picturesque town planning movement to find rural settlement as a central theme in pedagogy and practice. Several notable exceptions exist, such as Peter Aldington’s cluster of village houses in Haddenham, designed and built in the 1960s. Here both the languages of modernism and the vernacular are deftly intertwined, giving expression to a spatially rich grouping of houses which respond sensitively to their village setting and the surrounding landscape of mature trees: at once embedded in tradition and forward looking. Other examples of this synthesis might include Jorn Utzon’s Kingo houses, scattered loosely in contiguous clusters evoking the image of an organically formed hill top village, or more recently Sergison Bates’s housing in Aldershot which revisits the semi-detached typology associated with suburban housing in a manner that situates it more closely with the principles of townscape and the composed ensemble.
A common theme evident in these examples is a disassociation between buildings and formalised tarmac infrastructure and car parking – a feature which often dominates developer housing in Scotland (think suburban cul-de-sac). This seems to allude to a desire for continuity in surface treatment, similar to that which so compellingly anchors the clachan to the earth. Sergison Bates’ early imagery for Aldershot for example, set the houses as objects against a continuous ground plane forming both the street and open gardens, serving to unify the houses against their surroundings. Such imagery is strongly reminiscent of Giorgio Morandi’s still life paintings. There is a synergy between objects and their setting implied in these loosely structured compositions which also resonates with Gunn’s anthropomorphic evocation of highland cottages as “part of the rhythm of the land itself”.
A resonance between buildings, community, and place exists in successful and enduring settlements. But there is an alarming deficiency of the seemingly allusive qualities of cohesion and permanence in the majority of new-build developer housing in Scotland, and the need for coherent planning strategies and settlement models is of even greater importance when considering development in a sensitive landscape context. It is clear however that successful models exist. It could be concluded that remains of the most instructive vernacular precedent, the clachan, exist on the very sites which are subject to re-settlement debate. Nineteenth century architects David MacGibbon and Thomas Ross, practising out of Edinburgh, undertook a tremendously exhaustive survey of ‘The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland’, which they compiled into a multi-volume publication of that name. Their meticulous survey drawings and sketches (produced on frequent ventures around the country by bicycle and railway) alongside their accompanying scholarship, provided a significant regional source-book, which disseminated into their own work and influenced many contemporaries and successors. In the spirit of MacGibbon & Ross, might it be possible to document and study the clachan as a typology, and thus allude to a contemporary strategy for re-settlement?
Clachans in the Highlands have mostly crumbled beyond recognition as places of dwelling, yet their traces often remain on the land. Ruinous walls or even barely perceptible archaeological impressions are testament to their existence, and such artefacts are still capable of silently communicating the presence of human endeavour, inhibition and together, community. Alexander Fenton visited Arnol clachan in West Side, Isle of Lewis, in May 1964, a place that at the time was comprised of both twentieth century dwellings as well as Blackhouses. In his later publication, The Island Blackhouse, he observed the profound sense that the very distant past seemed to coalesce with the present, noting that “traces are still clear enough to suggest a much more functionally integrated system of communal co-existence”. Today even in the far west of the Western Isles these traces may be on the verge of drifting out of focus. Returning for a moment to Morandi’s still life paintings, they seem to communicate a similar sense of timelessness and the ephemeral. John Berger (2001) writes that Morandi’s objects “seem to be on the point of disappearing”, but then questions whether they are indeed disappearing or in fact emerging – becoming visible – “Traces are not only what is left when something has gone, they can also be marks for a project, of something to come.”
Words by Baillie Baillie Architects, with special thanks to Community Land Scotland.
BACK
Get The Latest Built Environment News, Events, Vacancies, Consultations And Publications In Our News Bulletin.
BEFS News
The most recent Scottish House Condition Survey reported that 68% of all dwellings exhibited some degree of disrepair. There remain significant challenges facing the repair and maintenance of residential buildings under shared ownership.
Within this context, BEFS is delighted to announce that the Scottish Parliamentary Working Group on Tenement Maintenance is now firmly established. The working group was first convened by Ben Macpherson MSP in March 2018. The first two meetings saw cross party attendance with representatives from property management, property law, chartered surveying and architecture, with BEFS and the RICS providing the secretariat function. The aims are long term, provisionally making recommendations at the end of this parliament.
The new National Performance Framework has now been launched. The indicator for the historic environment remains the condition of pre1919 dwellings
In our blog this week, BEFS Policy and Advocacy Officer, Ailsa Macfarlane, reflects on how to improve and use existing building stock following a recent Transition Edinburgh event, Carbon Neutral Edinburgh 2050.
In what is hopefully a final mention of the General Data Protection Regulation, you can now find BEFS Privacy Notice and new and improve Data Protection Policy on our website here.
Built Environment Forum Scotland celebrated its 15th birthday on 11th June! We would like to thank you for your continued engagement, support and interest in the work of the forum.
Consultations
Heritage Lottery Fund Policy Directions consultation (DDCMS 15/06/18)
This consultation closes at 11:45pm on 29 July 2018.
Delivering improved transparency in land ownership in Scotland: Consultation on draft regulations
Opened 20 Jun 2018 and closes 8 Nov 2018.
Consultation Responses
Publications
Building More, Building Beautiful (Policy Exchange 20/06/18)
Places for People (PfP) – Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) Results (SG 19/06/18)
Practical Fire Safety Guidance for Existing Premises with Sleeping Accommodation (SG 13/06/18)
Scottish Government News Releases
Land ownership (SG 20/06/18)
New register will improve transparency. The first steps are being taken to create a public register of people who ultimately make decisions about how land is used and managed.
Scottish Crown Estate (SG 19/06/18)
The Scottish Parliament has approved in principle a bill that will give local authorities and communities the opportunity to directly manage Scottish Crown Estate assets.
Homelessness and Housing Options Statistics Published (SG 19/06/18)
Scottish local authorities received 34,972 applications for homelessness assistance between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018, 1% higher than the same period during 2016/17. Comparing the same time periods, 43,900 Housing Options approaches were recorded, a reduction of 16%.
More affordable homes (SG 19/06/18)
Multi-million-pound investment in mid-market rent scheme. One thousand new homes will be delivered across Scotland through the latest affordable housing investment fund.
Energy efficiency funding (SG 17/06/18)
Households and businesses are to benefit from more than £2 million of funding to help use energy more efficiently. The Scottish Government has given the money to 15 councils to fund projects that will support homeowners and businesses installing energy efficiency measures as part of the new Energy Efficient Scotland programme.
Fire at Glasgow School of Art (SG 16/06/18)
Response to major fire in Glasgow.
Building and fire safety (SG 13/06/18)
Consultation on expert group recommendations. Increasing the use of sprinkler systems and mandatory inspections are to be considered to improve building safety following the advice of two expert panels.
Affordable housing approvals up 14% to 11,680 in latest year (SG 12/06/18)
A National Statistics Publication for Scotland. There were 11,677 affordable homes approved in 2017/18, 14% more than the previous year, and the third consecutive annual increase since 2014/15.
A vision for national wellbeing (SG 11/06/18)
New National Performance Framework launched. A new framework for building a more successful and inclusive Scotland, and the way in which progress towards it can be measured, has been launched by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
News Releases
RIAS Announces 12 Winners in RIAS Awards 2018 (RIAS 21/06/18)
The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) announced 12 winners for its 2018 Awards, representing the very best of current Scottish architecture. Stewart Henderson, President of the RIAS, commented that when shortlisting this year’s entries for awards the panel were struck by the continuing high standard of submissions.
CARS funding to drive investment in more Scottish communities (HES 15/06/18)
Scottish communities are set to benefit from a £10 million investment under Historic Environment Scotland’s (HES) flagship conservation and regeneration funding programme. Applications are now open for local authorities, national park authorities, voluntary sector organisations and community groups to apply for grants under the eighth round of the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS),
Resource For Heritage Projects Relaunched (HLF 15/06/18)
Many heritage projects struggle to ‘pass go’. This is often as a result of a lack of experience, understanding or support in key project areas. For those community groups seeking guidance to rescue historic buildings and bring them into sustainable use, look no further! www.brick-work.org created by the Prince’s Regeneration Trust’s BRICK Programme has been updated and relaunched.
Democracy Matters Community Engagement Fund (VAF 06/18)
The Scottish Government Democracy Matters Community Engagement Fund provides grants of up to £300 (in exceptional circumstances up to £500) to small voluntary organisations and community groups in Scotland to help them run an event with a group of five or more people to discuss what matters to them in relation to democracy.
MSP Connector Programme 2018: Connecting MSPs with Scotland’s Towns (STP 06/18)
Now in its fourth year, Scotland’s Towns Partnership and the Cross Party Group on Towns and Town Centres are encouraging MSPs to take a day during Parliamentary Recess to visit towns in their constituency or region as part of the MSP Connector Programme.
20th Anniversary SURF Awards Open for Applications (12/06/18)
The prestigious 2018 ‘20th Anniversary’ SURF Awards for Best Practice in Community Regeneration were launched today. The SURF Awards are widely recognised as the most prestigious in the field of Scottish community regeneration. If you are involved in a project or know of projects who are worthy of recognition, then please do make an entry this year.
IHBC & partners on Design & the NPPF –update on government ‘getting serious on design’ (IHBC 12/06/18)
The IHBC and partners including Civic Voice, Place Alliance and the Urban Design Group, have written to the Secretary of State at England’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) asking government ‘to use the opportunity provided by the revision of the National Planning Policy Framework [NPPF] to more forcefully demonstrate the desire of the Government to see better design everywhere’.
UK World Heritage Sites Review Announced (World Heritage UK 06/18)
It’s all smiles at the Ministry this morning as World Heritage UK President, Chris Blandford, and Chair, Tony Crouch, meet with Michael Ellis, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. World Heritage UK publicly announces that it will undertake the first review of all 31 of the UK’s World Heritage Sites.
DCMS calls for more research on diversity and place-making (Art Professionals 06/18)
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is calling on academics to conduct more research on key topics that it considers important for “good policy and decision making”, including place-making, diversity and digital preparedness.
£20m fund to empowering communities to tackle poverty and inequalities (SHN 07/06/18)
Since 2015 the Empowering Communities Fund (ECF) has supported hundreds of projects, giving communities more control over planning and decisions that affect them locally as well as driving forward regeneration and making changes through training, employment, arts and volunteering opportunities.
Opinion & Comment
A good plan? (Kate Shannon, Holyrood Magazine 12/06/18)
Housing crisis: What went wrong? (RICS 11/06/18)
Bannockburn House Through Time (Simon Green 08/06/18)
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”.
Alexander Burnett S5W-17390
To ask the Scottish Government what financial assessment has been made of the cost of converting all buildings in Scotland to net zero emissions by 2050 as set out in the Energy Efficient Scotland: Route Map. (SP 20/06/18)
Graham Simpson S5W-17367
To ask the Scottish Government on what dates the Building Standards (Compliance and Enforcement) Review Panel has met; when it will next meet, and by what date it will issue its recommendations. (SP 20/06/18)
Ben Macpherson S5W-17320
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the delivery of more affordable housing. (SP 16/06/18)
Parliamentary Questions & Answers
Questions marked with a triangle (?) are initiated by the Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.
Question S5W-17210: Miles Briggs, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 12/06/2018
To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes have been built in each year since 2016, broken down by local authority.
Answered by Kevin Stewart (19/06/2018)
Question S5W-17016: Iain Gray, East Lothian, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 04/06/2018
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to facilitate wider opportunities for self-build housing.
Answered by Kevin Stewart (12/06/2018)
Question S5W-17029: Alex Cole-Hamilton, Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Date Lodged: 04/06/2018
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the figures released under Freedom of Information in January 2018 regarding vacant private sector homes across 23 local authorities, which record (a) 20,027 as being empty for more than six months and (b) 927 being empty for more than 10 years.
Answered by Kevin Stewart (12/06/2018)
Question S5W-16963: Rachael Hamilton, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 30/05/2018
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure that burial grounds are maintained and with the full consent and knowledge of anyone who may be affected by any actions such as the removal of headstones.
Answered by Aileen Campbell (12/06/2018)
Question S5W-16906: Ben Macpherson, Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 29/05/2018
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-04448 by Kevin Stewart on 15 November 2016, whether it will outline the average Housing Association Grant (HAG) subsidy levels approved for housing association new development tender approval activity in Edinburgh and Glasgow over the last three years, broken down by type of tenure.
Answered by Kevin Stewart (06/06/2018)
Question S5W-16796: Pauline McNeill, Glasgow, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 24/05/2018
To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes it has built during the current parliamentary session.
Answered by Kevin Stewart (05/06/2018)
Other Parliamentary Activity
The Scottish Parliament is in recess from 30 June to 2 September 2018 (inclusive).
Events
For the latest information about BEFS Members’ events see our events calendar.
Paisley’s Industrial and Cultural Heritage
Date: Wednesday 27 June.
Venue: Paisley Town Hall from 9.30am-4.30pm.
A day conference examining Paisley’s industrial and cultural heritage, jointly presented by The Paisley Centre for Business and Industrial History (UWS), the Business Archives Council of Scotland and Renfrewshire Council.
“Hidden Gardens of the Old Town”
Date: Thursday 5 July 2018, 6pm.
Meeting Point: Netherbow Wellhead, outside John Knox’s House, Royal Mile, Edinburgh.
The dense streets and wynds of Edinburgh’s Old Town may seem an unlikely place to find gardens and greenery. Yet here you can find a wealth of private and community gardens set back from the main thoroughfare, each with its own unique history and design. Let us guide you through the secluded green treasures of the Old Town and share their stories and secrets with you.This tour finishes with a drinks reception in Edinburgh World Heritage’s own hidden garden at Bakehouse Close. Tickets: Tickets are £10.
Vacancies
Communications and Events Assistant (RIAS)
The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) is looking for a highly motivated individual who is keen to develop their career in events. The position involves supporting the Secretary & Treasurer’s office in the delivery of a wide portfolio of events to RIAS members and the public. This is a multi-tasking role. Flexibility and attention to detail are essential.
Closing date 29 June 2018.
PAS Board now recruiting new volunteer Board members (PAS)
The PAS Board creates a strategic and policy framework for PAS and is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the organisation fulfils its statutory requirements. The Board focuses on strategic direction and vision rather than organisational management and service delivery. In achieving this, the Board’s key consideration is how to implement the organisation’s charitable aims and objectives and its Strategy. The PAS Board is now looking to recruit new volunteer Board members with expertise in any of the following areas: Fundraising; Law; Financial Planning.
Closing date 6 July 2018.
Skills Training Officer
Perth & Kinross Heritage Trust is a charity established in 1988 with the aim of conserving and promoting archaeology and architectural heritage in Perth and Kinross for the benefit of residents, visitors and future generations. Our Strategic Plan 2017-22 identifies ‘supporting the sectoral skills base through delivering skills training’ as a key priority. We wish to appoint a conservation professional on a one-year fixed-term basis to help us deliver our existing skills training projects, including boat building, traditional building skills training and an archaeology field school, and to lead on the development of a project plan and funding package for a 3-year training programme to run from 2020-22.
Closing date for applications: 5pm on Friday 13 July 2018.
BEFS Policy and Advocacy Officer, Ailsa Macfarlane, reflects on discussions on how to improve and use existing building stock at the recent event Carbon Neutral Edinburgh 2050.
The perspectives on building maintenance are multi-faceted, and the Parliamentary Working Group has the potential for real progress on this issue.
That said, sometimes we need to take a step back and consider the bigger picture, the much bigger picture – and how our actions can contribute to positive changes.
Last night (20th June) BEFS were delighted to support and attend Transition Edinburgh’s Carbon Neutral Edinburgh 2050 event at the City Chambers. Immediately prior to this event was an exceptionally well attended AGM, which discussed Transition Edinburgh’s activities over the past year – these ranged from Festival and Food initiatives, to the launch of Zero Carbon Edinburgh, and the potential for a pilot home improvement programme with Changeworks.
Initially we heard from some excellent speakers:
We gained perspectives from Cllr. Neil Gardiner (City of Edinburgh Council) – who discussed Edinburgh’s Local Development Plan (LDP2) and how the city could, and should, develop based on a plan-led system. Prof. Cliff Hague (Chair, Cockburn Association) made it clear that not only do we need more data (where and how much CO2 is produced) but that a full life-cycle approach is key – refurbishment could be a ‘quick win’ to aid the reductions necessary by 2050. Lastly, we heard a provocation from Prof. Sandy Halliday (Gaia Research). She took us through a whistle stop tour of Urban Ecology principles, reminded us that every city cannot survive without its hinterland, and showed the audience a range of inspiring examples from places where green design, and new ways of living, are flourishing: Malmo, Berlin, Tubingen, Zurich, Perth, Portobello!
The discussions then split into smaller round-tables, our topic was: Refurbishment/Upgrading existing buildings. The group was extremely knowledgeable and engaged, with representatives from; large-construction working with heritage buildings, a social landlord, energy efficiency solution organisations, an architect, retrofitting specialists, and an energy efficiency modelling professional.
With around 25% of CO2 emissions relating to buildings and industry globally, and 80% of our building stock already existing in the UK; it is clear that the site specific; person, and building, health appropriate; changes we can make to our existing stock can not only provide more homes, but warmer and healthier homes, schools, and commercial spaces. Ultimately helping to provide a built environment which has a less negative environmental impact on our planet.
The discussion around the topic was wide ranging – from how to approach different types, ages and tenures of buildings; to whether societal change needed legislative ‘push’. We were clear that educating more clearly to promote the financial, wellbeing, societal and environmental benefits of refurbishment would be central to the process of significant change by 2050. However, we also appreciated that this process had to be collaborative – and that the collaboration had to be at all levels, whether that was industry, local authority, neighbourhoods, or communities.
When feeding-back we heard from another table who had been wrestling with the same topic – their clarity was around: Creating a framework where refurbishment can flourish. This encompassed: tax rates (be that VAT or incentivisation); clarity/legislation around statutory obligations; land value capture (both how we value land, and how we charge for vacant properties) – these aspects led the table to suggest a national policy on refurbishment. This would support economies of scale, increasing affordability. (Our table had compared the process of retrofitting for energy efficiency in relation to the alterations made to properties on a wide-scale when modern sanitation was installed.)
Whilst any single event will not provide a solution, or multiple solutions – it is clear that there is growing appetite, awareness and emphasis on how we can improve and use our existing buildings to make them not only the homes, schools and workplaces of the future, but places that do less harm to our future.
BACK
Get The Latest Built Environment News, Events, Vacancies, Consultations And Publications In Our News Bulletin.
BEFS News
HES is consulting on its next corporate plan and to inform that are evaluating the existing HES Corporate Plan 2016-19. To help they are seeking responses to this short survey by Monday 11th June.
Many of you attended BEFS workshop in March on the replacement of the Historic Environment Scotland Policy Statement and you can find the report here. HES will be finalising their approach and developing content over the next couple of months with a full public consultation on a draft policy document in August 2018. They are now seeking your views on the approach they are taking in this short survey by Sunday 17th June 2018.
BEFS recent Land Value Capture event held in association with jhplanning, gathered a wide variety of professional perspectives and approaches. There was a clear desire to continue with collaborative approaches, particularly those which take different views into consideration, and an appetite for vital work to continue in this area. You can now download the slides from the event.
BEFS is delighted to be supporting Transition Edinburgh with their upcoming event ‘Carbon Neutral Edinburgh 2050: What will the city look like and how can we manage the journey there?’ Join a round-table conversation with key people from Edinburgh City Council – elected reps & officers – with Cockburn Association, Edinburgh World Heritage, Scottish Ecological Design Association, Scottish Solar Energy Group and Edinburgh Architectural Association.
The Architecture Fringe kicks off tomorrow with a fantastic line-up of events across Scotland. An evening of cross-disciplinary debate on public procurement and how the construction industry can deliver a better quality built environment, next Tuesday in Edinburgh, may be of particular interest.
Doors Open Days’ regional dates are firming up across Scotland’s 32 local authority areas. Further details now accessible on the website.
Have you nominated your Scottish Heritage Angle? The deadline for entries is approaching on 29th June.
Helen Lawrenson, Director of Centre for Stewardship, shares examples of successfully re-purposed historic buildings for sustainable uses, in this week’s blog: Falkland Estate: New Life for Old Buildings.
Consultations
Call for Evidence on Experience of Concentrated Land Ownership (SLC)
The call for evidence will be open until 30 June 2018.
Publications
A Review of Empty and Second Homes in Scotland (Greens 06/06/18)
Temporary Accommodation in Scotland: Interim Report (Social Bite 04/06/18)
RTPI Scotland briefing for the Planning Bill Stage 1 Debate (RTPI 05/18)
HES INFORM Guide – Thatched Roofs (HES 05/18)
Scottish Government News Releases
Empowering communities (SG 06/06/18)
£20 million to tackle poverty and inequalities. Communities will be able to decide how best they can tackle poverty and inequalities in their own area backed by a £20 million fund.
Improving energy efficiency (SG 04/06/18)
Equity loan scheme for homeowners expands. More homeowners will be able to carry out energy efficiency work and improvements on their properties as a pilot scheme expands.
Cladding removal VAT calls (SG 03/06/18)
Ministers back exemption for removal of combustible building cladding. Companies removing combustible cladding from their buildings in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy should have their VAT waived by the UK Government, Scottish Ministers have said.
£90.2 million City Region Deal for Stirling and Clackmannanshire (SG 31/05/18)
The UK and Scottish Government are investing over £90 million in Stirling and Clackmannanshire through an ambitious City Region Deal, which will drive economic growth across the region.
£5 million additional funding for Stirling and Clackmannanshire (SG 31/05/18)
City Region to receive £50.1 million in total from the Scottish Government. Additional investment of £5 million will be made by the Scottish Government in the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region.
Transforming temporary accommodation (SG 29/05/18)
Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group recommendations. Recommendations to transform temporary accommodation, including getting the right support in place from day one and giving more power to front-line workers, have been accepted by the Scottish Government.
News Releases
£90 million Stirling and Clackmannanshire UK City Region Deal launched (BG 31/05/18)
The UK Government is investing more than £45 million in the Stirling and Clackmannanshire UK City Region Deal. That will be matched by funding from the Scottish Government, bringing total funding to more than £90 million.
Tenement maintenance one step closer for Scotland (RICS 29/05/18)
Action on compulsory tenement maintenance in Scotland took a closer step last week as parliament agreed, following a vote on an opposition debate, to review existing legislation and consider the implementation of mandatory tenement health checks.
Ten-year transformation of Scottish village wins top UK planning award (RTPI 25/05/18)
A 10-year plan to regenerate a declining fishing village in Scotland has won the top prize at a prestigious national awards ceremony last night.
Visit Orkney Any Time – From the Comfort of Home! (HES 25/05/18)
Find out how to visit ten ancient cairns and two earth houses from the comfort of home in this post from Georgie about the magic of 3D digital modelling.
Stage 1 Debate on the Planning Bill (PAS 25/05/18)
The Local Government and Communities Committee published its report on the Planning (Scotland) Bill and the Stage 1 Debate will follow on 29 May at 2pm. The debate will be broadcast live on the Scottish Parliament website. Here are some of the key messages we have shared with MSPs in advance of the Stage 1 Debate.
PAS expanding youth team in the Year of Young People (PAS 24/05/18)
Scotland’s leading place charity, PAS, has announced the creation of a new Youth Education Team, to expand on its already thriving programme with young people.
Civic Conservation Area Audit’ toolkit (Civic Voice 05/18)
The Conversation Area Audit is a way for a community to assess the condition of a conservation area. It is your “first steps” to managing the change in your conservation area and has been designed in a way that anyone can use it without requiring a “consultant” to support the delivery.
Opinion & Comment
How can we use design to help create a caring place? (Karen Anderson, A&DS 06/18/)
New Town Child (Archaeological Drift 06/18)
Could a ‘caring town’ housing concept transform our age? (Phil Prentice, STP 31/05/18)
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”.
Alex Cole-Hamilton S5W-17029
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the figures released under Freedom of Information in January 2018 regarding vacant private sector homes across 23 local authorities, which record (a) 20,027 as being empty for more than six months and (b) 927 being empty for more than 10 years. (SP 04/06/18)
Iain Gray S5W-17016
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to facilitate wider opportunities for self-build housing. (SP 04/06/18)
Pauline McNeill S5W-16796
To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes it has built during the current parliamentary session. (SP 01/06/18)
Rachael Hamilton S5W-16963
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure that burial grounds are maintained and with the full consent and knowledge of anyone who may be affected by any actions such as the removal of headstones. (SP 30/05/18)
Ben Macpherson S5W-16906
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-04448 by Kevin Stewart on 15 November 2016, whether it will outline the average Housing Association Grant (HAG) subsidy levels approved for housing association new development tender approval activity in Edinburgh and Glasgow over the last three years, broken down by type of tenure. (SP 29/05/18)
Parliamentary Questions & Answers
Questions marked with a triangle (?) are initiated by the Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.
Question S5W-16770: Elaine Smith, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 17/05/2018
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to meet the demand for accessible housing for disabled people.
Answered by Kevin Stewart (29/05/2018)
Question S5W-16769: Elaine Smith, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 17/05/2018
To ask the Scottish Government how it encourages the private sector to modify homes in line with the needs of disabled tenants.
Answered by Kevin Stewart (29/05/2018)
Question S5W-16755: Elaine Smith, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 17/05/2018
To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes in each local authority area have been (a) built and (b) demolished in each year since 2016.
Answered by Kevin Stewart (29/05/2018)
Question S5W-16754: Elaine Smith, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 17/05/2018
To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes there have been in each local authority area in each year since 2016.
Answered by Kevin Stewart (29/05/2018)
Question S5W-16753: Elaine Smith, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 17/05/2018
To ask the Scottish Government how many of its proposed 50,000 affordable homes will be accessible to disabled people.
Answered by Kevin Stewart (29/05/2018)
Question S5W-16603: Graham Simpson, Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 11/05/2018
To ask the Scottish Government whether it still plans to introduce a Warm Homes Bill.
Answered by Kevin Stewart (22/05/2018)
Other Parliamentary Activity
Summer recess dates: 20 July 2017 – 5 September 2017.
Events
For the latest information about BEFS Members’ events see our events calendar.
Building Conservation Careers Fair
Date: Friday 8 June to Saturday 9 June 2018, 10am – 4pm.
Venue: Engine Shed, Stirling FK8 1QZFK8 1QZ K8 1QZ.
Interested in a career in conservation, heritage or traditional crafts? Come along to speak to HES Staff and find out how to take the first steps to a new career.
Free. Visit our website or further details or to book a place.
The Politics of Cultural Memory in the Nations of Europe
Date: Monday 18th June 2018 at 17:45.
Venue: Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh EH2 2EL.
You are most warmly invited to a lecture, “The Politics of Cultural Memory in the Nations of Europe”, by Dr Emil Brix. Dr Brix is the Director of the International Academy of Diplomacy in Vienna and is a former Austrian Ambassador to London and Moscow. It is a joint event between the National Galleries of Scotland and the MCICH Network, with registration 1745 for 1800 start, and is one of a series to mark 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage.
Carbon Neutral Edinburgh 2050: What will the city look like & how to manage the journey there?
Date: Wed 20 June, 5.30 for 6.30-8.30pm.
Venue: City Chambers, 253 High St EH1 1YJ.
Join a round-table conversation with key people from the City Council – elected reps & officers – with Cockburn Association, Edinburgh World Heritage, BEFS, SEDA, SSEG and Edinburgh Architectural Association. From first 5,000 responses to 2050 Edinburgh City Vision consultation four aspirations emerged: 1. Edinburgh becoming carbon neutral 2. Eradicating poverty as we understand it today 3. Re-imagining public space in Edinburgh 4. Making Edinburgh more caring. We’ll explore how to achieve the first. The event is being facilitated by Transition Edinburgh. They are holding a short annual general meeting from 5.30-6.15pm – to which all are invited. Registration for the Round-table event with refreshments will be available from 6.15pm.
Carving the Court Capital
Date: Thursday 21 June 2018, 10am – 12pm.
Venue: Engine Shed, Stirling FK8 1QZ.
Prices: £20.00 Non-member; £18.00 Concession; £18.00 Historic Scotland member.
The Four Courts, Ireland’s main court building was built over 200 years ago by architect James Gandon. 24 carved Corinthian capitals support the main dome, a number of which have become eroded and degraded over time and now need to be replaced. As part of a knowledge sharing agreement between Historic Environment Scotland (HES) and the Office of Public Works (OPW) Heritage Service in Ireland, one of the replacement capitols will be carved in Stirling by HES stonemasons and apprentices. Charles Jones who will supervise the training and carving of the capitals here in Scotland will talk about the project background, the work so far and include a visit to see the carving progress.
Industrial Archaeology Conference
Dates: Friday 22 June 2018 to Wednesday 27 June 2018, 9.30am – 5.30pm.
Location: Wick, Caithness
This industrial archaeology conference includes talks, tours and site visits in and around Caithness, with options starting and finishing in Inverness and a day in Orkney. Explore the exciting world of industrial archaeology in a part of Scotland noted for its geology, vernacular buildings, fishing stations and for the transformational presence of Dounreay and modern engineering firms. Book for as many days as you wish and arrange your own accommodation. This conference is a partnership between Historic Environment Scotland, the Scottish Industrial Heritage Society and the Scottish Vernacular Buildings Working Group and includes speakers from Tekniska museet, National Museum of Science and Technology.
Towns Tea Party 2018
Date: Monday 25 June 2018, 2pm – 4.30pm.
Venue: The Melting Pot, 5 Rose Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PR.
Come along to this annual opportunity to network with STP and other town stakeholders over tea and cake, and hear about the latest developments and opportunities for Scotland’s towns and city neighbourhoods. Taking place in The Melting Pot, Edinburgh, this is an excellent opportunity to gather with colleagues from across the country to network, learn and to be part of the launch of the fourth FutureTown Design Competition. Paisley Trust submitted the winning entry in 2017 and will help us launch the 2018 campaign. The Towns Tea Party will also incorporate the Scotland’s Towns Ltd Annual General Meeting and this is a great chance to be updated on STP’s progress and future activities. Free to STP Members – please RSVP here. Non Members £15+VA – please purchase ticket here.
Training
Technical Conservation Summer School
Date: Monday 11 June 2018 to Friday 15 June 2018, 9am to 5pm.
Venue: Engine Shed, Stirling FK8 1QZ.
Prices: £450.00 Non-members – full week; £405.00 Historic Scotland members – full week
Our exciting week-long summer school provides a complete introduction to the principles of conservation and traditional building materials and skills. Whether you’re a conservation enthusiast, or just getting started, book a place to brush up on your conservation knowledge and try our hands-on activities. Each day is suitable for people from all experiences and backgrounds. Taught through a mix of lectures, practical sessions and field trips, this is the perfect starting point to develop your knowledge of building conservation. Come along to the full week to learn about everything from digital documentation to stonemasonry, or book individual dates if a particular topic catches your eye. .
Conservation 101: What You Need to Know
Date: Monday 11 June 2018, 9am – 5pm.
Venue: Engine Shed, Stirling FK8 1QZ FK8 1QZ.
Prices: £90.00 Historic Scotland members – full day; £100.00 Non-members – full day.
Day one of our five-day conservation summer school will take you through conservation ethics and principles, materials used in traditional building construction and the planning and policy landscape we work within. This learning will then be put in context looking at heritage project design and management and a visit to a building at the beginning of its conservation journey.
Building Blocks: Stone and Lime
Date: Tuesday 12 June 2018, 9am to 5pm.
Venue: Engine Shed, Stirling FK8 1QZFK8 1QZ.
Prices: £100.00 Non-member; £90.00 Historic Scotland member.
Day two of our five-day conservation summer school will be taught through a mix of lectures and practical sessions and focus on stone and lime in traditional buildings. As well as learning how these materials are used, you can try your hand at stone-masonry, lime slaking and scientific stone and mortar analysis.
Conserving the Castle
Date: Wednesday 13 June 2018, 9am to 5pm.
Venue: Engine Shed, Stirling FK8 1QZ.
Prices: £100.00 Non-member; £90.00 Historic Scotland member.
Day three of our five-day conservation summer school will explore the various techniques used to monitor and conserve the monuments in our care. Survey and recording workshops will take you through digital documentation, non-invasive testing methods and research techniques.
Sustainable Materials and Practice
Date: Thursday 14 June 2018, 9am to 5pm.
Venue: Engine Shed, Stirling FK8 1QZ.
Prices: £100.00 Non-members; £90.00 Historic Scotland members.
Day four of our five-day conservation summer school will delve into Scottish architectural traditions and how climate change is affecting our built heritage. The first half of this day will examine vernacular architecture and traditions, and look at fired and unfired earth in more detail. The afternoon will look at the risks to our heritage through climate change and examine what we can do to both protect and adapt buildings and make them more energy efficient.
Conservation in Context
Date: Friday 15 June 2018, 9am to 5pm.
Venue: Engine Shed, Stirling FK8 1QZ.
Prices: £100.00 Non-members; £90.00 Historic Scotland members.
The final day of our five-day conservation summer school will be this day-long field trip examining conservation challenges and principles in situ. With guided trips through archaeological sites, active conservation work and examining our streetscapes this will provide a true insight into work undertaken to protect, understand and enhance our historic environment. This trip will include a scaffold tour, PPE can be provided if required.
From quarry to quoin: a conservation guide to stonework
Date: 19 June 2018, 9am-1pm
Venue: Walpole Hall, Chester Street, Edinburgh EH3 7EN
Price: £50/£40 EWH members
Join us for the next instalment of our training series: a comprehensive training session where we will explore all aspects of stonework from the quarry to the workshop and beyond.
Speakers include:
• Marcus Paine, Hutton Stone: From the quarrier’s perspective
• Katie Strang, Scottish Lime Centre: The geology of the building stones of Edinburgh
• Luis Albornoz, British Geological Survey: Stone matching
• Christa Gerdwilker, Historic Environment Scotland: Stone conservation approaches
• Maggie Tennant, St Mary’s Cathedral Workshop: Health and safety when working with stone
• Jordan Kirk, St Mary’s Cathedral Workshop: Practical demonstration
• Fiona MacDonald, Edinburgh World Heritage: Grants case study
The RIAS is happy to recommend this event to its members, and it is recognised by the IHBC for CPD.
Vacancies
International Project Officer (Edinburgh World Heritage)
We are looking to appoint an International Project Officer to assist with the delivery of the Heritage Skills Build Peace and Capacity (KORU) project, which is funded by the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund. Edinburgh World Heritage and the Istanbul-based Association for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (KMKD) have formed a partnership to deliver a joint training programme in Turkey.
Closing date for applications: 5pm on Friday 8th June 2018.
Project Engagement and Monitoring Officer (Edinburgh World Heritage)
Sir Basil Spence’s Canongate Housing development is a category B listed complex of housing blocks located on Canongate in the Old Town of Edinburgh, built between 1967 and 1969. It is characterised by high energy use, low EPC rating, poor maintenance, high running costs and low community engagement. We have a vision to improve the energy efficiency of these buildings and consistently restore or repair features across the development. We are looking to appoint a Project Engagement and Monitoring Officer to assist with the delivery of the project by supporting the residents of the Canongate Housing development, particularly with financial aspects of the project, and by ongoing monitoring of energy use during and after works.Closing date for applications: 5pm on Friday 15th June 2018.
Heritage Consultancy Team Assistant (Simpson & Brown)
Simpson & Brown is looking for an enthusiastic, dynamic and well qualified person to join the Heritage Consultancy Team in Edinburgh. The position is aimed at a recent graduate of a relevant degree, or similar. The post would be full time, for a six-month initial period. Start date would be as soon as possible following successful interview, at the end of w/c 18th or w/c 25th June 2018. Simpson & Brown are leading experts in historic buildings and sites with 40 years of experience working with some of the United Kingdom’s most important built heritage. The Heritage Consultancy Team specialises in conservation plans and statements of significance for all types of heritage asset. Working in this team requires versatility and a willingness to be involved in a variety of work relating to the historic built environment. Further details are on Simpson & Brown’s website. Closing date: Monday 18th June 2018.
PAS Board now recruiting new volunteer Board members (PAS)
The PAS Board creates a strategic and policy framework for PAS and is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the organisation fulfils its statutory requirements. The Board focuses on strategic direction and vision rather than organisational management and service delivery. In achieving this, the Board’s key consideration is how to implement the organisation’s charitable aims and objectives and its Strategy. The PAS Board is now looking to recruit new volunteer Board members with expertise in any of the following areas: Fundraising; Law; Financial Planning.
Closing date 6 July 2018
Helen Lawrenson, Director of Centre for Stewardship, shares examples of successfully re-purposing historic buildings for sustainable uses.
House of Falkland Stables
Over the last 10 years Falkland Stewardship Trust, a registered Scottish charity based on the beautiful designed landscape of Falkland Estate has been sympathetically repurposing heritage buildings in its care.
Sitting at the entrance to Falkland Estate, the B-listed House of Falkland Stables has been home to many residents. Originally designed in 1822-4 by John Swinton, additions and improvements were made in 1889 and gradually over time, horses were supplemented then replaced by motor cars. People have always lived or worked at the Stables and today, the Stables is full of activity. There is a combination of tenanted houses, charity and estate offices as well as public spaces for seminars and craft activities. In 2015 we opened up the South Stables as a small Information Hub to welcome people to the Estate. The gardens around the Stables are edible growing spaces looked after by our conservation volunteers and to the west of the Stables we are evolving a tranquil Ceremonial Space to host weddings and other ceremonies, as well as a space for quiet reflection. The courtyard has been transformed with its large circular grassed space. Pop-up restaurant evenings are now hosted in the original stable block where visitors dine in horse booths. Whilst the horses have gone to pasture, the Stables building is still very much thriving.
The sawmill at Chancefield
For centuries the Forest of Falkland has been a place of woodland enterprise. The sawmill at Chancefield was built in the 1890s and operated till the 1970s after which the building went into decline. In 2015 we were fortunate to secure grant funding and working with the Estate’s own maintenance team, we have brought the building back to life.
Today, the main forestry building at Chancefield is home to two of Falkland Stewardship Trust’s exciting programmes: Our Bright Future which is helping young people to develop skills in the rural sector; and Simple Shelters, a pilot project involving participants in the building and use of huts and other simple structures in the environment. Dotted around Chancefield are smaller huts for artists and crafts people looking to establish a community of skilled makers processing timber and forest products.
Memorial Chapel
“An unfinished building for an unfinished life”, the Memorial Chapel sits in the heart of the designed landscape looking down over the Stables building. The Memorial Chapel was commissioned by Lord and Lady Ninian Crichton Stuart to commemorate their son who died just before his third birthday. The architect was Reginald Fairlie whose family home was the nearby Myres Castle. Work started in 1913 but the building was never complete as Lord Ninian was killed at the Battle of Loos in 1915. Nearly a century after, the Chapel underwent major restoration of its fabric with pointing and a sedum top finish on the walls. Whilst the building continues to remain roofless, it now serves a happier purpose for wedding ceremonies and small musical concerts.
The Temple of Decision
Designed by Alexander Roos for the wealthy estate owners, the Tyndall Bruces, the Temple of Decision was built in 1849 as their summer house. With a grand sweeping stone staircase and four majestic pillars, the Temple would have been one of the most important features within the landscape. Sadly over time, this building fell into decay. In 2016, thanks to funding through the Living Lomonds Landscape Programme, we were able to work with architect Jonathan Gotelee and stone masons LimeRich and Nic Boyes Stone Conservator to carry out consolidation works. Whilst further decay of the building has now halted, the Trust and its partners have time to consider further works and funding applications – so thinking caps on! What purposes can we imagine for this building…
BACK
Download the slides from BEFS recent Land Value Capture event.
The Land Value Capture event (Riddle’s Court, 31 May 2018) held in association with jhplanning, gathered a wide variety of professional perspectives and approaches. There seemed to be a clear collective desire to continue with collaborative approaches, particularly those approaches which take different views into consideration. There is a need to increase infrastructure and housing provision, these were drivers to the current Scottish Planning review, and this event gave clear messages that there is appetite for vital work to continue in this area.
Download the slides from the event here.
BACK
Get The Latest Built Environment News, Events, Vacancies, Consultations And Publications In Our News Bulletin.
BEFS News
The Local Government and Communities Committee has published its report on the Planning (Scotland) Bill. The Committee calls for the Bill to expressly set out a purpose of planning, reflecting an ambition to create “high quality places”. BEFS welcomes the report and looks at the recommendations in relation to BEFS written and oral evidence. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Stage 1 debate on the Planning (Scotland) Bill will take place on the afternoon of Tuesday 29 May.
The issue of tenement maintenance was progressed in a remarkably consensual Scottish Parliament debate yesterday, with agreement on a motion on the inadequacy of existing legislation in dealing with the condition of Scotland’s tenement housing stock. The motion gives further support to the cross party working group, chaired by Ben Macpherson MSP and secretariat provided by BEFS and the RICS (more information here), and it’s good to see the Minister for Local Government and Housing voting in favour of a review of the relevant legislation. The issue of tenement maintenance was recently presented at a meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs who also advised not to shy away from looking at amending legislation. The parliamentary working group meets again next week to look at resourcing for local authorities to utilise powers, standard entity for owners to organise works and building inspections and BEFS hopes to make papers arising available shortly. Full transcript of yesterday’s parliamentary debate is available here, or you can watch it on Parliament TV here.
Can you spare 10 minutes to contribute to new research for the heritage sector? The State of Heritage Funding Now.
The Scottish Land Commission has published a new report and briefing paper on using land value increases to deliver new housing and development. Written by a team from Heriot-Watt University, the report reviews the UK’s historic experience of land value capture and identifies what lessons current policy makers could take from this experience.
Ahead of BEFS event, Land Value Capture – An Exploration of Methods & Views, BEFS Trustee, Bill Pagan summarises his vision of capturing land value for public benefit, in this week’s blog.
Consultations
Call for Evidence on Experience of Concentrated Land Ownership (SLC 15/18)
Scotland has an unusually concentrated pattern of land ownership compared to other countries and the pattern has remained largely unchanged for decades. Concern about the effects that this has on rural communities and the wider public interest has long been a central issue in the land reform debate in Scotland. The call for evidence will be open until 30 June 2018.
Environmental Principles and Governance after EU Exit (BG 10/05/18)
Opened 10 May 2018 and closes 2 Aug 2018.
Consultation Responses
National Lottery Strategic Funding Framework 2019-2024 – Consultation Findings (HLF 21/05/18)
Improving Parking in Scotland: Consultation Analysis Report (Transport Scotland 21/05/18)
Publications
Stage 1 Report on the Planning (Scotland) Bill (LGCC 17/05/18)
Report on the Consultation on the Scottish Government’s Draft National Outcomes (LGCC 15/05/18)
Annual Report on Welfare Reform Follow up Paper: Housing and Social Security (SG 14/05/18)
Affordable Housing Supply Funding – SPICe Briefing (SP 11/05/18)
Scottish Government News Releases
Household numbers continue to rise (SG 22/05/18)
The number of households in Scotland has continued to increase to 2.46 million in 2017, according to figures published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS).
Promoting Scotland’s cultural heritage (SG 12/05/18)
The Scottish Government has invited Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to apply for European Regional Development Funding (ERDF) to establish a multi-million pound Challenge Fund to protect and promote the Highlands & Islands natural and cultural heritage assets.
Energy efficiency in social housing (SG 10/05/18)
Social housing landlords will be able to make their properties more energy efficient, with money from a £3.5 million decarbonisation fund. Local authorities and housing associations will be able to use the fund on projects that improve energy efficiency and decarbonise heating, for example when installing solar panels or air source heat pumps.
News Releases
RIAS Response to Hackitt Review (RIAS 22/05/18)
The Hackitt review proposes a new regulatory standard for high rise high risk residential buildings of 10 storeys plus.
£8.6 million for heritage led projects in Scotland’s seven cities (HES 19/05/18)
Scotland’s seven cities are set to benefit from over £8.6 million of investment for heritage-led regeneration projects. The funding is being released through the City Heritage Trust programme, which is administered by Historic Environment Scotland (HES).
CIfA and DGUF to sign memorandum of understanding (CifA 17/05/18)
On 12 May, CIfA’s Board of Directors and the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte e.V (DGUF) signalled their intention to formally sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) designed to permanently regulate the cooperation between the two associations. The MoU recognises that both organisations have a commitment to the promotion of archaeology, care for our cultural heritage and good practice in archaeology.
LIS Launches the Mark Turnbull Travel Award (LIS 14/05/18)
Using overseas travel to gain an insight into best and innovative landscape practice to address some of the current landscape challenges facing Scotland. This award will benefit future generations of graduate landscape architects in Scotland as well as the practice of landscape architecture by bringing overseas experience and knowledge back to the country.
EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards 2018: 29 winners from 17 countries announced (EN 15/05/18)
The winners of the 2018 EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards, Europe’s top honour in the field, were announced today by the European Commission and Europa Nostra, the leading European heritage network. The 29 laureates from 17 countries have been recognised for their impressive accomplishments in conservation, research, dedicated service, and education, training and awareness-raising.
2018 EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards – Public Choice Award (EN 15/05/18)
You should vote for 3 projects. You cannot vote for the same country more than once. You need to confirm your vote by clicking on the e-mail that you will receive. The winner will be announced at the European Heritage Awards Ceremony on 22 June 2018 in Berlin, Germany. Deadline for voting is 10 June 2018.
Edinburgh Doors Open Day (CA 05/18)
Be part of Edinburgh’s biggest free celebration of architecture, culture and history. The Cockburn Association is currently seeking expressions of interest for new venues and events for Doors Open Days 2018. Find out more and get involved!
Braw Buildings (Hostelling Scotland 05/18)
Hostelling Scotland have partnered with Scottish Civic Trust’s Doors Open Days and ScotRail on an exciting new project for the Year of Young People 2018. The Braw Buildings Project offers young people in Scotland the chance to stay in one of 6 Youth Hostels across Scotland and take part in Doors Open Days.
Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF) – now open for applications (SG 14/05/18)
The Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, delivered in partnership with COSLA and local government, supports locally developed regeneration projects that involve local communities, helping to support and create jobs and build sustainable communities.
Energy efficient buildings: Council adopts revised directive (European Council 14/05/18)
The Council today adopted a revised directive on the energy performance of buildings, so completing the final stage in the legislative procedure. The directive improves energy efficiency in buildings and encourages building renovation. Decarbonising the existing, highly inefficient European building stock is one of its long term goals.
New environment law to deliver a Green Brexit (BG 10/05/18)
Environmental Principles and Governance Bill announced as consultation launches on new body to hold government to account. A new Environmental Principles and Governance Bill will ensure environmental protections will not be weakened as we leave the EU, the government has confirmed.
Opinion & Comment
Back to the Land? (Mark Stephens, Heriot-Watt University for SLC 23/05/18)
Three Thatched Buildings You Need To Know (Rosanne Watts, HES 18/05/18)
RTPI Scotland: Planning Bill must make clear planning will defend public interest (RTPI 17/05/18)
Plaque attack! (Kenny Brophy, 15/05/18)
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”.
Graham Simpson S5W-16603
To ask the Scottish Government whether it still plans to introduce a Warm Homes Bill. (SP 11/05/18)
Elaine Smith S5W-16753
To ask the Scottish Government how many of its proposed 50,000 affordable homes will be accessible to disabled people. (SP 17/05/18)
Elaine Smith S5W-16754
To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes there have been in each local authority area in each year since 2016. (SP 17/05/18)
Elaine Smith S5W-16755
To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes in each local authority area have been (a) built and (b) demolished in each year since 2016. (SP 17/05/18)
Elaine Smith S5W-16769
To ask the Scottish Government how it encourages the private sector to modify homes in line with the needs of disabled tenants. (SP 17/05/18)
Elaine Smith S5W-16770
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to meet the demand for accessible housing for disabled people. (SP 17/05/18)
Motions
Motion debated on 23/05/18
Graham Simpson: Housing—That the Parliament believes that existing legislation is inadequate in dealing with the condition of Scotland’s tenement housing stock; backs calls for changes to legislation including, for example, having mandatory building health checks; believes that property factors can play a part in a new system; considers that there are property factor companies that perform their duties well, but that there are some that are performing poorly; acknowledges the limited role of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) in improving the performance of property factors and considers that the system for members of the public to make complaints should be improved; believes that there is a need for a more robust process to remove property factors that repeatedly break the property factors code of conduct or duties, and calls on the Scottish Government to review the current system.
- The SNP amendment agreed there should be a review of existing regulation relating to the maintenance of tenements, which would cover mandatory health checks and property factors.
- Labour’s amendment called for a “new system” and a review of the “gaps” in housing legislation, as well as suggesting more robust regulation for factors.
- The Green and Liberal Democrat amendments were not selected for debate.
Events
For the latest information about BEFS Members’ events see our events calendar.
RSA Scotland: MCICH Network – Politics of Cultural Memory in the Nations of Europe
Date: Mon 18 June 2018, from 17:45 – 19:30.
Venue: Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh EH2 2EL.
RSA Fellows and guests, IIC Members and NGS Patrons, Friends and Supporters are warmly invited to attend this lecture, the second in an RSA Fellows’ Media, Creative Industries, Culture & Heritage Network (MCICH) Series to mark 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage. The MCICH Network extends its thanks to the Diplomatic Academy, Vienna, National Galleries of Scotland RSA Scotland for support of this event. Early booking is advised. Dr. Emil Brix, born in Vienna, is a diplomat and historian. He is the Director of the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. He has served in the Austrian diplomatic service.
Causy Development Trust Annual General Meeting 2018
Date: Tuesday, 19 June, from 7pm.
Venue: Buccleuch & Greyfriars Free Church, 10 West Crosscauseway, EH8 9JP
Causey Development Trust AGM 2018 is on Tuesday 19th June at 7pm. The guest speaker will be Daisy Narayanan, Project Director, Central Edinburgh transformation, CEC, Deputy Director, Sustrans Scotland. All welcome!
RTPI Sir Patrick Geddes Commemorative Lecture: Tessy Britton – The Participatory City (NOT SOLD OUT as website suggests)
Date: 26 June from 6pm.
Venue: Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh.
Tessy Britton, Founding CEO of The Participatory City, will give this year’s Geddes Lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. The Participatory City Foundation is an organisation established to create a large citizen-led participation ecosystem in Barking and Dagenham. Book here.
Training
From Quarry to Quoin: A Conservation Guide to Stonework
Date: 19 June 2018, 9am-1pm.
Venue: Walpole Hall, Chester Street, Edinburgh EH3 7EN.
£50/£40 EWH members
Join us for the next instalment of our training series: a comprehensive training session where we will explore all aspects of stonework from the quarry to the workshop and beyond.
Topics covered:
- Quarries
- Geology of the World Heritage Site
- Stone matching, workability and maintenance
- Health and safety
- Practical demonstrations
Speakers include:
- Marcus Paine, Hutton Stone
- Katie Strang, Scottish Lime Centre
- Luis Albornoz, British Geological Survey
- Christa Gerdwilker, Historic Environment Scotland
- Maggie Tennant, St Mary’s Cathedral Workshop
- Jordan Kirk, St Mary’s Cathedral Workshop
The RIAS is happy to recommend this event to its members, and it is recognised by the IHBC for CPD.
Vacancies
Volunteer with us! Architecture Fringe
With the Architecture Fringe 2018 programme released into the world we are now seeking some assistance in helping us to successfully deliver this year’s festival. We are a volunteer-run organisation and we are looking for like-minded people to enter into the spirit of contributing a small amount of their time in helping us to enact positive change on Scotland’s built environment.
Should this be of interest please drop us a line at hello@architecturefringe.com noting ‘Volunteer Help’ in the subject heading by 12 noon on Monday 28th May 2018.
Programme Manager
This is an exciting opportunity to lead the delivery of the North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme, following a successful funding application. The North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme will raise awareness of and conserve and enhance the distinct identities of Orkney’s North Isles through the delivery of a number of projects. In the latest Halifax Rural Areas Quality of Life Survey, Orkney retained the title of Britain’s best rural place to live. The aspiration is to improve the condition of heritage assets, make heritage more accessible, encouraging the involvement of young people and the sharing of heritage between generations. Closing date: Sunday 03 June 2018.
Information in the Bulletin is extracted from a number of websites including the Scottish Government (SG); the Scottish Parliament (SP); Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS); Historic Environment Scotland (HES); Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH); Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO); English Heritage (EH); Design Council (DC); Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG); Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS); Department of Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA); National Assembly for Wales (NAW); Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS); Scottish Government Building Standards (SGBS); Europa Nostra (EN); Historic England (HE).
If you have any questions or comments on the above, or would like to submit information to be included, please get in touch with Saskia Smellie or tel: BEFS Office on 0131 220 6241.
BACK
BEFS Trustee, Bill Pagan offers his personal take on how to capture land value to public benefit, ahead of BEFS event.
In informal discussions at recent events, I have outlined a possible way of capturing some of the value of development land to public benefit, while not discouraging development. This is in part a response to the proposals by Thomas Aubrey in his BEFS Annual Lecture last year, and his subsequent Report on Edinburgh City Region. BEFS upcoming event on Land Value Capture seemed an appropriate incentive to put my thoughts down on paper.
The principles behind my proposal are:
- That a variable Levy on development land be introduced, the levy being payable to:
- A new Scottish Land (or Infrastructure) Fund.
As well as raising cash for housing land, an aim of this Levy is that it will contain sufficient encouragement for land to be developed that contentious, costly and slow Compulsory Purchase powers will not be needed, although these powers will continue in place.
The Levy will be seen as a Tax, which is within Devolved Powers, and more difficult to oppose. Since Governments of all colours detest “hypothecated” general Taxes and equivalent, and since in practice the hypothecation disappears after an initial year or two (see Gordon Brown’s NIC increase to assist the NHS, for example) a separate Fund as the destination for the Levy is necessary.
My proposals are that, once the “Scottish Land (or Infrastructure) Fund” is established, it will be funded by the Scottish Government sufficiently to enable it to purchase potential Development Land not already in public ownership, and that the proposed Levy is paid to it as well.
I suggest that at least two years’ notice of the introduction of the Levy is given, encouraging those owning potential development sites (especially those owning sites with existing Planning Consents) to accelerate their plans to develop, and avoid the new Levy. This, as a one-time benefit, should unlock sites at present being banked.
The new Levy will be payable immediately on introduction of the Levy if Planning Permission in Principle (PPiP) has been in place for two years, otherwise on the earliest of:
- Two years after the grant of PPiP,
- The sale in the market, of land with PPiP,
- The start of construction – but
- with reduced rates of the Levy for brownfield sites, and
- with higher rates of the Levy for green belt sites.
If the owner of the land sells it to the Fund at a small discount, then no Levy will be payable if:
- The price is paid over 10 years, and
- Without interest on that price, and
- Without inflation uplift on that price.
I look forward to hearing your views, and discussing the challenges and opportunities presented by capturing land value at BEFS event, Land Value Capture – an exploration of methods & views, later this month.
ADDITION: A PDF demonstrating the sums behind the description above can now be found here.
BACK