PRESS RELEASES

An indispensible guide for community groups and local trusts that want to put derelict but historic buildings back into new uses has been published today by The Prince’s Regeneration Trust.

How to: Write Conservation Reports explains the steps needed to put together both a Conservation Statement and Conservation Management Plan, key documents which set out what is important about a building from a heritage perspective and how to protect it. This underpins the creation of a proposal suitable for submission to funding and planning bodies.

The guide says local groups that want to revive a historic building understandably tend to focus on the new uses it might accommodate. However, they should concentrate first on producing the reports relating to its conservation and adaption needed to secure grant aid, planning permission and listed building consent.

Though aimed primarily at non-specialists, architectural and other professionals involved in the conservation process should also find the guide of use. Its publication has been welcomed by experts in the field.

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, says the guide draws on the Trust’s many years of experience of working with local groups in these circumstances:

“Understanding and documenting why a historic building is important is key to its successful restoration and re-use and this can be as much about the previous uses it accommodated as the fabric of the building itself,” she explains. “The process is particularly valuable where a building is to undergo a change of use. The Trust has many years' experience of working with local groups advising and helping them through the tasks that lead to a proposal suitable for submission to funding and planning bodies.”

Paul Weston, a Community Consultant in South West England currently working on a project, says the comprehensive guide has made him even keener to get on with it. “The guide has provided me with substantial checklists and, despite the scale of the task they represent, I feel significantly empowered,” he says.

“The guide has huge capacity-building merit in helping people understand the process and appreciate the conservation planning requirements. It will certainly put them in a position where they can both engage with and manage the development of the conservation plan and take ownership of it as the project proceeds.”

Rosslyn Stuart, Planning and Development Director – East at English Heritage, believes that structured guidance likes this will help organisations to develop briefs for work of this type, especially by making the distinction between Conservation Statements and Conservation Management Plans:

“The guidance usefully fills a gap in understanding of these statements/plans that would benefit a wide range of clients/professionals without being overly prescriptive,” she says.

Joanie Speers, Founder/Director of Adfer Ban a Chwm, a building preservation trust in Wales, describes the guide as “very clear and easy to read. The hints and tips are good, the flow charts are great, the issues to consider are helpful, and the extracts are really useful”.

How to: Write Conservation Reports can be downloaded for free from The Prince’s Regeneration Trust’s website at www.princes-regeneration.org

All press releases