8 Dec 2021

BEFS Bulletin – NPF4, Sector Awards, BEFS AGM

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

BEFS News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Low Carbon Learning (Construction Scotland Innovation Centre)

Understanding Scotland – The Scottish Wellbeing Index (Nov 2021)

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

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

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

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

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

Scottish Government Publications

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

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

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

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

News Releases

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

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

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

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

BRE helps build new embodied carbon database (BRE Group)

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

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

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

Opinion & Comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Parliamentary Questions

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

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

Parliamentary Questions & Answers

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other Parliamentary Activity

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

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

Motions

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

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

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

Events

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

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

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

Training

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

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

• Contracting in a COVID19 and post pandemic world

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

Vacancies

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

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