- Introduction to Sustainable Heritage
- Why Produce a Toolkit?
- The Toolkit
- Case Studies & Useful Tools
- East Riding of Yorkshire Council
- Portrush Town Hall
- North Wales Hospital, Denbigh
- The Shine Centre, Leeds
- Oxford Castle, Oxford
- Castlemilk Stables, Glasgow
- Tower Mill, Heart of Hawick
- Westbury Farm
- The Six Ls of Sustainability
- Applying a standard method to assess the benefits of disposal options
- Social Return on Investment Analysis
- Useful Links
- Glossary
- Download the Toolkit as a PDF
Case Studies & Useful Tools
Case studies and useful tools to facilitate best practice have been discussed throughout the toolkit, and are useful to illustrate good and bad disposal practices across the United Kingdom.
Case studies
Below is a list of the case studies and examples of best practice discussed in this toolkit and a brief overview of the topics each explores.
This case study explores how a multi-functional asset management database can provide a local authority with the ability to maintain and manage its property portfolio effectively, and to quickly bring those buildings surplus to local authority requirements back into alternative uses through disposal.
This case study discusses the importance of investing in regular maintenance of heritage assets and outlines the cost advantages of bringing such assets back into use rather than demolition, dispelling the myth that the reuse of heritage assets is more costly than demolition and subsequent new build.
This case study explores the consequences of not taking the long-term view when disposing of a heritage asset. Not only are such practices unsustainable, they can also result in high cost implications for all parties involved. North Wales Hospital, Denbigh, is an example of a disposal without building in the necessary safeguards to ensure that new owner would manage the heritage assets appropriately and convert to suitable new uses.
The Shine Centre in Leeds is an example of how a vacant heritage asset can be transformed and brought back into use for the benefit of the community. Not only has the project been a success it is also acting as a catalyst for the regeneration of the wider area.
Oxford Castle is an example of how a heritage asset owned by a local authority can form part of a successful redevelopment programme, brought about by successful partnership working. This case study explores how and why the partnership was successful in delivering the regeneration of the castle and the wider area, and highlights the unrealised potential many local authority owned heritage assets have in providing major financial and social returns.
This award-winning project in the south of Glasgow demonstrates the benefits of partnership working between a well established community based organisation and a building preservation trust to enable the restoration and re-use of a much-valued historic building. As well as securing a sustainable future for a building at risk and unlocking the development potential in the wider area, the project is contributing to Glasgow City Council's wider regeneration strategy of tackling poverty, and promoting social inclusion and life-long learning. It illustrates the UK wide potential to harness existing and well developed local organisations in the Third Sector,such as housing associations, to reuse problematic local authority asset burdens and at the same time releasing the potential already created in historic capacity building investment.
Heart of Hawick is an award winning project which was led by Scottish Borders Council to revitalise the heart of Hawick's town centre utilising the Category A listed Tower Mill as the focus for the wider regeneration project. The Council secured funding from a variety of sources as well as providing £4m from its own resources for the 10 year transformational project. The project outlines how community buy-in is essential if the project is to have long term success.
This case study highlights the cost savings that can be made by letting out an asset for temporary purposes until such time as when the asset can be disposed of and a new use identified. Such practices can lower security costs and maintain the condition of the asset preventing it from falling into disrepair because tenants can report any maintenance issues to the owners as soon as they arise.
Useful tools
These six points provide guidance to local authorities on when it is and isn't prohibitive to covert a heritage asset for reuse. The Six Ls are:
- Longevity
- Loose-fit
- Low carbon
- Locationally appropriate
- Liked by occupiers
- Lovability
The source for this tool is Building Sustainability in the Balance by Sarah Sayce, Anthony Walker and Angus McIntosh, London Estates Gazette, 2004.
It is important that local authority decision making is as transparent as possible, ensuring that all decisions made are seen as being logical to the public based on the documented information available. The following tool builds upon the scoring table, looking in greater detail about what local authorities should consider during the decision making process.
Social Return on Investment analysis is an extremely useful tool that local authorities can use to calculate the monetary value of wider social returns brought about by disposing of a heritage asset. In cases where an asset is disposed of at undervalue, or where public subsidy is needed to bring the asset back into viable use, the tool can be used to demonstrate that any public money invested in a project will be repaid to the tax payer in the long term due to economic and social outcomes delivered by the project.
