IHBC ANNUAL SCHOOL 2013

The heritage sector is at the edge of a precipice, Scott McGibbon (page 19) reports IHBC chairman Mike Brown telling the annual school in Carlisle. Is it time to move forward? Not exactly. Precipices are for stepping back from, except for well-equipped BASE jumpers. A rather more considered strategy is needed.

Mike Brown, a consultant heritage and urban design advisor, recently appointed as the new chair of the IHBC,pointed out that the onus would be put on the private sector with regards skills and training.

We can assume that the private sector has been afforded an environment to invest in and make competitive returns while, apart from the most conscientious, developers can continue their recent trend of advocating and educating built environment stakeholders in the benefits of modern construction practice to the detriment of the heritage sector.

The result will be a vicious circle of despair: poor specification, poor workmanship, poor aftercare and subsequent lack of maintenance. This would be contrary to the objectives of national, regional and local planning policy. The heritage sector was at the edge of a precipice, Brown said: ‘a modern-world legislative system but with third-world resources’.