Loyd said:

“Successive governments have claimed to appreciate the full social, economic and cultural value of our heritage. Yet, despite plenty of hard evidence of such benefits, one of our greatest national assets has come to be regarded by governments as a liability and a brake on economic growth.

This perception could not be more wrong, or more out of step with public opinion. All over the country people care passionately about their historic environment. Some 93 per cent of adults agree that “when trying to improve local places it is worth saving their historic features”. Last year saw a rise in membership figures for heritage groups at a time when people are tightening their belts. Around five million of us in Britain are members of heritage organisations – that’s around 10 times as many as are members of political parties – and around 450,000 of us volunteer our time to look after the historic environment.

Heritage isn’t just a crucial part of our wellbeing, enjoyment and sense of place. It’s also a vital part of our economy.

The tourism sector – driven by our heritage – is Britain’s third-largest export earner, worth around £115bn a year to GDP and supporting around 2.6m jobs, and heritage remains the most cited reason for people to visit Britain. York is a fantastic – but by no means isolated – example of the heritage economy in action; a thriving, dynamic city whose prosperity is driven by its heritage-led offer.

And heritage is also the key to regenerating communities in need of housing, office space and community services. Figures tell us one in four businesses see the historic environment as an important factor in deciding where to relocate and listed office space can generate a higher level of total return than office property overall. Every pound invested in the historic environment directly contributes on average an additional £1.60 to the local economy over a ten-year period.

Manningham Mills in Bradford, once the largest mill in the world, now houses flats, a conference space and a community centre. The Sheffield Cultural Industries Quarter and the Richmond Town Heritage Partnership Scheme are also inspiring examples of the sustainable reuse of beautiful, functional buildings and spaces. With the Prime Minister backing small businesses as a key block in the rebuilding of our economy, these stories of successful heritage-led regeneration projects should be music to ministerial ears. So why, with our heritage continuing to deliver multiple benefits to people and places, do our governments still fail to recognise and harness its full potential?

In treating heritage as an after-thought in policy-making – most notably through the controversial draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), I believe the Coalition is missing out on a key way to deliver prosperity. Building more homes does not need to be achieved at the expense of protecting our heritage assets.

The Historic Environment chapter of the NPPF is welcome, yet the protections it provides seem trumped by an overriding “presumption in favour of sustainable development”. The Government must realise that our heritage can provide the foundation for growth. Such growth should be smart growth – in the right place, for the right reasons.

As recommended by two Parliamentary Select Committees, the definition of sustainable development must be redrafted to restore balance. There can be no reason for delay on this. The Prime Minister has already confirmed in a letter to the National Trust that he believes “sustainable development has environmental and social dimensions as well as an economic dimension, and we fully recognise the need for a balance between the three”.

While I support the streamlining of complex planning policy, the extreme brevity and loose wording of the NPPF has led to widespread confusion amongst planning professionals, members of the public, and Parliamentarians, leading to allegations the final document will be a “lawyer’s charter” open to disparate interpretation. What good is a shorter guidance document if planners and local residents find no clear guidance in it?

I would urge the Government to re-draft the document to provide adequate detail and clarity, and consider carefully the Communities Select Committee’s sensible recommendation that officials “should not make a fetish of how many pages it is”.

There are positive elements in the NPPF – its “town centre first” approach and its focus on good design, for example – but as it stands the document represents a significant dilution of protection for our irreplaceable heritage assets.

Working with stakeholders to effect a minor re-draft of this important document would give the Government the chance to reaffirm its commitment to rebalancing the economy on a long-term basis, while making the most of our heritage as a valuable tool in support of this. For the sake of Britain’s long-term economic, social and cultural interests, I do hope they take it.”

Hands Off Our Land: The Government’s planning reforms could damage our heritage, says Loyd Grossman

Hands Off Our Land: Planning reforms threaten ‘beauty and history of our countryside’, says Loyd Grossman

Read more from The Alliance on the NPPF here.

Loyd said in The Telegraph:

“Those who value the beauty and history of our countryside have been alarmed by the government’s proposed National Planning Policy Framework. As this newspaper’s Hands Off Our Land campaign has shown, people and organisations ranging from the National Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to dissident cabinet ministers, backbenchers, farmers and ramblers have all raised serious questions about and objections to this fundamental overhaul of the planning system. I share their concerns, but would also like to make the point that planning reform is not just a rural issue, but also one that significantly affects London, our great regional cities and our market towns. The Government have presented their plans as a major contribution to their growth agenda- which I welcome as we must deliver prosperity to more people- but by implying that the conservation and protection of our historic environment somehow doesn’t contribute to growth they have shown a perverse misunderstanding of the value of our heritage, rural and urban.

The NPPF frames the economic development debate for towns and cities in terms of ‘vitality and viability’, and that of the countryside in terms of ‘raising quality of life and the environment’ as if quality of life and a distinctive sense of place were not as critical to urban as to rural areas. We live in one of the ten richest countries in the world, yet in too many places, it just doesn’t feel like that. We see squalor and neglect and the consequent lack of civic pride, social engagement and good citizenship. Why can’t our governments grasp that our heritage can be and should be a major part of delivering better lives to more people?  All over Britain, people care passionately about their everyday historic environment. Recent figures tell us that 93% of adults agree that ‘when trying to improve local places it is worth saving their historic features’ and 71% agree that they are ‘interested in the history of the place’ where they live.

Our heritage has been the heart around which many major, successful and sustainable- to use the NPPF’s favourite word- regeneration projects have been built: Gloucester Docks, the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, Manningham Mills in Bradford are a few among many examples.  If such developments don’t make a contribution to our economic and social well being, I don’t know what does. I am also puzzled by the NPPF’s failure to mention tourism, aside from one fleeting mention of rural tourism. Tourism is one of this country’s major economic activities and heritage driven tourism contributes a useful 20 billion a year to the economy. Where there are cathedrals, museums, heritage centres and historic high streets there are also flourishing shops, pubs and hotels.

The NPPF also fails to understand that the dynamism of town and city centres is about much more than retail and commercialised leisure. It is the rich and inspiring mixture of culture, education and sheer historic beauty and interest that can make our towns and cities such compelling places to work in, live in or visit. One way to ensure that a town centre first approach prevails is to concentrate any new development on brownfield – previously developed- sites.

The purpose of planning is to balance short term demands and interests with long term public benefit. In its current form the NPPF reduces the long term public benefits of protecting our heritage, by the loss of the vital presumption in favour of conservation and the lack of policy on designated assets where there is less than substantial harm.

The NPPF is admirably concise, but such brevity can lead to ambiguity. In a wide variety of ways- economic, social and spiritual- our historic environment is one of our outstanding national assets. For too long, government has seen it on the wrong side of the balance sheet. If we want to deliver more prosperous and meaningful lives to our citizens, our heritage is a tool waiting to be picked up and used.”

The Heritage Alliance is looking for a part-time administrator/office manager for its small friendly office in Westminster. The Heritage Alliance is a national charity that champions 92 voluntary heritage organisations in England from The National Trust to small specialist groups. Our Chairman is Loyd Grossman OBE FSA.

This exciting, growing heritage charity is looking for someone two days a week to help run an office of three full-time staff. This will cover office management and administration, bookkeeping on QuickBooks and QuickBooks payroll admin. You will also manage the office IT (small server), office equipment and supplies, helping with day to day queries. You will maintain contact databases and manage annual membership subscriptions.

Salary: £22,175pa pro rata (2 days per week, £8,870pa).

Start date: asap

Closing date: 27th January 2012

What we need

You will be responsible, reliable and well organised with excellent IT skills and competency in common software packages including Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word and Excel etc).

You must be a self starter with proven experience of office management and practical book-keeping including proven experience in using QuickBooks, as well as general IT experience.

How to apply

To apply please download and complete the application form with reference to the job description, and return it to the Chief Executive, Kate Pugh: kate.pugh@theheritagealliance.org.uk / or fax to 0207 233 0600 / or post to The Chief Executive, The Heritage Alliance, Clutha House, 10 Storeys Gate, London, SW1P 3AY by 13th January 2012. We will only consider completed applications. CVs will not be accepted.

Job description

Office Management and Administration

• Maintain and manage the administration of office systems – paper and electronic
• Do book keeping: on QuickBooks to trial balance, deal with invoices, bills, and direct debits
• Produce payroll for 4 staff using QuickBooks
• Produce payroll year end returns (P14, P35, P60 etc)
• Assist the Treasurer, Chief Executive and project staff with financial reporting
• Update staff handbook and guidelines/policies including H&S
• Manage the office calendar on Outlook

IT Management and Support

• Manage the IT network administration of small server based network of PCs, including backups & security in liaison with external IT support supplier
• Some maintenance of website (uploading and archiving) with Policy & Communications Officer (desirable)
• Deal with day to day queries and some technical requests (for example scanning documents, maintaining printers).

Systems Maintenance

• Oversee office equipment and services including telephones, printers, fax etc.
• Develop and maintain contacts databases with Policy & Communications Officer,
• Manage electronic filing and archiving.

Membership

• Manage membership records and subscription renewals
• Meetings/event administration and registration

Equal Opportunities

The Heritage Alliance is fully committed to the provision of equal access and opportunity as an employer.

The  Committee acknowledges the view of many in the sector that ”the NPPF must leave no room for doubt that the purpose of the planning system is to address social, environmental and economic demands on land supply on an equal basis.”

The Committee’s remit was to inquire into the wider issues of sustainable development and core planning principles. It did not generally examine specific policy areas, such the historic environment in detail.

Briefly, the report recommends:

1. Explanation of where policy has changed, and the relationship of the NPPF to other national policy documents, even if this increase the length of the document
2. Clarity to avoid the NPPF becoming ‘a lawyers’ charter’, including clear definition of terms such as ‘great weight’, ‘significance weight’, etc
3. A review of all supplementary guidance.
4. While it was never the intention of the Government to issue the draft NPPF as a ‘spatial’ plan, its impact and effectiveness would be improved if the possibility of differential impacts of its policies on different parts of the country were to be recognised in the Framework
5. Any new definition of sustainable development must contain the wording from the Brundtland report and a restatement of the five guiding principles of the 2005 sustainable development strategy
6. The presumption in favour of sustainable development must avoid the economic dimension being seen to be predominant.
7. The default answer to development proposals is ‘yes’ should be deleted from the NPPF
8. The presumption in favour of sustainable development should be redefined as ‘a presumption in favour of sustainable development consistent with the Local Plan.’
9. The phrase ‘significantly and demonstrably’ should be removed throughout the document, replaced with the simpler test of significance
10. The NPPF should unambiguously reflect the statutory supremacy of Local Plans, to avoid the NPPF being represented as a decision-making mechanism on a par the Local Plan.
11. The Government should establish a timetable for a transition period.
12. The ‘brownfield first’ policy should be reinstated, with local authorities adopting their own targets.
13. The NPPF should reflect the existing Town Centre First policy by bringing offices back within its ambit. The sequential test should be a requirement. The NPPF include a provision to allow communities, in certain exceptional circumstances, to adopt an absolute protection of a town centre from out-of-town retail development.  

The report ends by recommending a further short consultation, which would be welcomed by the Alliance.  Heritage is not a barrier to growth and development and the Alliance will respond positively to any further consultation to ensure that heritage is seen as a benefit to economic development, and that social and environmental factors are given appropriate weight in the NPPF. Our Chairman Loyd Grossman has written to the Minister Greg Clark to this effect.

Heritage Day on 8 December 2011 was a moment to reflect on the organisational development of the Alliance with the publication of the Annual Review of 2011, and a look forward to the organisation’s direction over the next three years through the Strategic Plan 2012-15.

The Annual Review charts the main areas of Alliance activity in 2011 – particularly lobbying on planning reform and the start of work on developing philanthropy – and also analyses the Alliance’s constituency, notably the primary focus of its 92 members, as well as a breakdown of the readership of Heritage Update.

Taking as its theme ‘Leadership, Influence and Enterprise’ the Alliance’s Strategic Plan 2012-15 sets out the principles behind the Alliance’s work: that the non heritage organisations have a unique and crucial role in protecting and promoting our heritage; that enjoying and caring for our heritage is of lasting public value for present and future generations; and that by valuing the contribution made by thousands of groups, individuals and volunteers, the Alliance celebrates the diversity of the heritage movement.

With these in mind, in the period 2012-15 the Alliance will place more emphasis on public understanding of the social value of heritage, extend its membership and support the financial resilience of the non-government heritage bodies. Its overall mission is to champion a strong and prominent independent heritage sector and to be the voice of the independent heritage movement.

On 8 December 2011 Loyd Grossman OBE announced the joint winners of this year’s Heritage Alliance Hero Award – a scheme celebrating the outstanding efforts of half a million heritage volunteers across the country.

The Heritage Alliance – the largest coalition of heritage interests in England[1] – announced on 8 December the joint winners of this year’s Heritage Alliance Hero Award, sponsored by Ecclesiastical Insurance Group. Congratulations to Inayat Omarji of the All Souls Crompton Community Centre Trust in Bolton, and the volunteers of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways in Gwynedd. These two outstanding examples of voluntary effort in support of community heritage so impressed the judges that the decision was taken to announce joint winners of this year’s Award.

Chairman of The Heritage Alliance Loyd Grossman presented the Award, which was established to celebrate the outstanding contribution to society made by heritage volunteers across the country; 423,000 (1.1 per cent of the adult population)[2] of whom give their time each year to look after our irreplaceable national heritage, so the public can continue to enjoy it and the economy can continue to benefit from it.[3] Each year this army of heritage volunteers gives around 58.5 million unpaid hours to society, which equates to a notional value of £335million[4].

Inayat Omarji has spent the last seven years volunteering his time to help develop a major project to regenerate the Grade II* listed All Souls Church in Crompton, Bolton, into a sustainable community asset for the benefit of local people. The All Souls Community Centre Trust, of which Inayat is Chairman, worked tirelessly with the local community and the Churches Conservation Trust to develop a successful bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund, which will enable this much-loved local landmark to house a ‘pod’ creating a modern, multi-functional community centre. Thanks in large part to Inayat’s passion and commitment building work will begin in January 2012. The new All Souls will play host to library facilities, an adult education programme, support services for job seekers, community business services, after-school clubs, arts and cultural activities, support services for the elderly, and health classes; for all the people of Bolton – of all faiths or none. The Trust expects to open the new centre to the community in summer 2013.

On receiving his Award from Loyd Grossman at the Alliance’s annual Heritage Day, Inayat said:

“It’s great to be recognised as a Heritage Alliance Hero, having committed seven years to the All Souls project. The hard work really starts now to sustain the project and to create and promote the marriage between the past and the future use of this fantastic church for all souls. It’s been and continues to be a fantastic partnership with the local community and the Churches Conservation Trust endorsing the vision, thus allowing us to reach this milestone.” 

Joint winners of the Award are the volunteers of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways, whose quarter of a century long project to restore the steam-hauled Welsh Highland Railway has resulted in a world-class heritage and tourist attraction, which is making a major economic contribution to the local community of Gwynedd. Between 1997 and 2011 over one thousand local volunteers have contributed their time, expertise and money towards gradually reconstructing and reopening the line. Skilled professionals have contributed their time pro bono – from legal advice, to civil engineering expertise; volunteers have turned out every weekend for four years, come rain come shine, to lay the final 20km of track from Rhyd Ddu to Porthmadog; and volunteers support the paid staff in all aspects of operating the train service throughout the year. Their outstanding effort has created Britain’s longest heritage railway, stretching 40km between Caernarfon and Porthmadog, which research indicates is contributing at least £15m a year to the Welsh economy.

On receiving on behalf of all the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways volunteers the Award from Loyd Grossman at Heritage Day, volunteer Andy Savage said:

“We’re really delighted to receive this Award in recognition of two decades of hard work from a vast group of volunteers. Their effort has preserved the railway for all to enjoy, and means it can again make a major contribution to the economy of North Wales.”

Alliance Chairman Loyd Grossman commented:

“I’m thrilled to present the Heritage Alliance Hero Award to two such inspiring winners. Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways and All Souls Bolton are two outstanding examples of the power of our heritage to deliver important benefits to local communities. They paint a picture of the many thousands of enterprising volunteer-led heritage initiatives underway up and down the country, ensuring our past continues to make a valuable contribution to our future.”

Around two thirds of the historic environment in Britain is supported, managed or owned by non-government heritage bodies, voluntary organisations or privately. The work of these organisations, groups and individuals benefits not only local communities through improved quality of life [5], but also local businesses[6] and the wider economy through tourism[7] – which contributes £20.6 billion to UK GDP per year and is expected to continue to grow.[8]

The Alliance has now responded formally to the Minister, with an analysis of the Plan and suggestions for taking forward the points with most potential for supporting our heritage. These include fiscal incentives, capacity building, and the legacy campaign. We have also had direct discussions on the Plan with English Heritage and the HLF, to see how best we can pool resources and networks. Alliance Chairman Loyd Grossman, already a member of the DCMS Philanthropy Programme Management Board, will be meeting Minister John Penrose with other heritage chairmen and chief executives for a Round Table discussion on 5 December.

The Alliance intends to use the 10 point plan to strengthen the independent heritage movement, so that they can take even greater responsibility for delivering the many benefits our heritage contributes to society. By refocusing fundraising techniques, diversifying revenue streams and developing stronger relationships with supporters, heritage bodies may be better placed to realise in financial terms the very deep attachment people have for place and community.

At the culmination of a year where membership of the Alliance has never been higher (92 national and major regional heritage non-government bodies, representing between them over 5 million people) and advocacy has gathered momentum, Heritage Day 2011 saw a high turnout across the sector. 

Addressing over 180 delegates, Chairman Loyd Grossman OBE FSA celebrated the new partnership of The Alliance with Civic Voice and the National Trust bringing Heritage Open Days back into the voluntary sector, and highlighted the sector’s achievements in ensuring heritage has secured a higher decibel rating in parliamentary lobbying over the NPPF and Localism Act. On the NPPF Loyd made the point that planning reform is not just a rural issue but also one that significantly affects our great cities and our market towns. For too long, he said, government has seen heritage on the wrong side of the balance sheet – far from being a brake on growth, heritage is a tool waiting to be picked up and used to catalyse growth. Loyd also highlighted the opportunities and the challenges of capitalising on the philanthropy agenda, which the Alliance is tackling head-on through its Funding Advocacy Group.

In particular, Loyd praised the work of the 485,000 volunteers across the country who donate 58.5 million hours each year to ensuring that the public can continue to enjoy our heritage, and that the economy can continue to benefit from it. In celebration of the outstanding public benefit contributed to society by heritage volunteers Loyd Grossman presented the second Heritage Alliance Hero Award to the volunteers of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways in Gwynedd, and Inayat Omarji of the All Souls Crompton Community Centre Trust in Bolton. These two outstanding examples of voluntary effort in support of community heritage so impressed the judges that the decision was taken to announce joint winners of this year’s Award.

Loyd said: “I’m thrilled to present the Heritage Alliance Hero Award to two such inspiring winners. Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways and All Souls Bolton are two outstanding examples of the power of our heritage to deliver important benefits to local communities. They paint a picture of the many thousands of enterprising volunteer-led heritage initiatives underway up and down the country, ensuring our past continues to make a valuable contribution to our future.”

Taking to the lectern next, Chairman of the National Trust Simon Jenkins gave the keynote speech on how the Trust had taken on the “hugely biased” NPPF, which he described as “a streamroller of development interest and a denial of planning.”  He outlined how the Trust had mobilised its membership over the summer and autumn, saying it had gone “into blitzkrieg mode” to challenge “the belief that planning is the enemy of growth”.  He warned that the current draft of the NPPF just “doesn’t meet its own criteria. It doesn’t ensure localism, and it won’t promote growth.” He said the Trust had been speaking with government officials over the need to re-write the Plan, and that if a poor version of the NPPF is the end result the Trust was prepared to “come out with big guns again.”

He went on to highlight the need to concentrate on helping councils and communities to better understand the value of their heritage, suggesting that it was local government not Westminster that should be the sector’s key target. He lamented that the words ‘beauty’ and’ pleasure’ were sorely missed in heritage debates today, concluding “heritage needs to articulate an aesthetic as well as being old” and highlighting what he saw as a key area through which the sector could better promote its value on all fronts – tourism.

Read more on Simon’s speech and the Trust’s ‘Planning for People’ campaign on the Trust’s blog here. Listen to an audioboo of Alliance Chief Exec Kate Pugh here. View a slideshow of Alliance Members’ work here, and photos from Heritage Day can be viewed here.

In the magnificent surroundings of Blenheim Palace delegates from the Alliance membership, Government departments, NDPBs and Local Authorities discussed the social, economic, regulatory and financial context within which the rural historic environment exists; debated the challenges facing the rural heritage; and explored solutions.

Keynote speaker Steve Trow, Head of National Rural and Environmental Advice at English Heritage, set the scene with his excellent presentation ‘Setting sun or new dawn? Challenges in the conservation of the rural heritage’ which is available to read online here. Resident Land Agent at the Madresfield Estate Peter Hughes used his workplace as a case study to outline the economics of maintaining rural heritage, and Programme Manager of the North Wessex Downs LEADER, Corrina Woodall, explained how the LEADER programme can bring about positive solutions for the rural historic environment.

The day was co-chaired by John Sell (Co-Chair of the RAG and Executive VP of Europa Nostra) and Jonathan Thompson (Co-Chair of the RAG and Heritage Adviser at the CLA).  Find out more about the work of the RAG here

Heritage Update is our voice to, and for, the sector. The popular fortnightly e-bulletin offers policy updates, news, a consultation round-up, events/ course listings and job vacancies. Update reaches an estimated 13,500 mailboxes in the UK and internationally; with readers as far afield as Abu Dhabi, Antarctica, Istanbul and California.

The most recent back copy (27 January) can be read here and all other archive copies can be downloaded here.  To subscribe to receive a copy directly to your inbox two weeks before it’s available online, please email your details to: mail@theheritagealliance.org.uk