Heritage At Risk Pilot Scheme announced for Broadland

Following a national search run by English Heritage, Broadland District Council, working in conjunction with Ingham Pinnock Associates, has been chosen to carry out a Heritage At Risk Pilot Scheme.
 
English Heritage asked interested parties to consider how best to set up and present a list of Grade II listed buildings that are considered to be “at risk” from decay, vandalism, misuse or collapse and to trial the scheme within a given area.
 

 
The Broadland scheme was put together to involve as many community groups and local people as possible. The Council and Ingham Pinnock Associates felt this would give local communities the greatest opportunity to share their views on the condition of listed buildings within the locality.
 
Kate Pinnock of Ingham Pinnock Associates said: “We are delighted to be working with Broadland District Council to undertake the pilot for English Heritage. This is a wonderful opportunity to identify heritage at risk and where possible, to help develop a strategy for their restoration.”
 
The scheme will be managed by Broadland District Council and Ingham Pinnock Associates with input where necessary from experienced heritage professionals, including Ian Lush from the Heritage Alliance, John Townsend from the Architectural Heritage Fund and Iain Soden from IS Heritage.
 
Broadland District Council and Ingham Pinnock Associates will be recruiting volunteers wishing to be involved in the project over the coming weeks. Volunteers will be given building assessment training and an opportunity to attend lectures given by leading heritage professionals. Owners of listed buildings affected by the pilot scheme will be contacted with further information.
 
Cllr Shaun Vincent, Broadland District Council Portfolio Holder for Planning, said: “This is a good opportunity for the Council to identify buildings at risk and to offer advice to their owners. Broadland residents value the built heritage within the district and recognise the importance of it to the vitality of their communities.”
 
English Heritage has launched this ambitious programme to find out how the one major element of our heritage not already covered by the Heritage at Register – the nation’s Grade II listed buildings – can be assessed. Working with 19 pilot schemes across the country, understanding what makes these buildings at risk, would be a first step to securing their future.
 
There are some 345,000 Grade II buildings in England, accounting for 92% of all listed buildings. Beautiful, historic or architecturally special, they are the houses, cottages, shops, inns, offices, schools, town halls, libraries, farms, mills and other distinguished buildings that shape the character of our cities, towns and villages.
 
Simon Thurley, chief executive of English Heritage, said: “Grade II buildings are the bulk of the nation’s heritage treasury. When one of them is lost, it’s as though someone has rubbed out a bit of the past – something that made your street or your village special will have gone.
 
“345,000 is not a large number in relation to all the buildings in England but it is too many for English Heritage to survey on its own, which is why we’re working with Broadland District Council and Ingham Pinnock Associates to help us know more about why these buildings are at risk and how we can rescue them.”
 
For further information on the pilot scheme or to register your interest in becoming a volunteer, contact Kate Pinnock or Broadland District Council on 01603 430569. You can also visit the project Facebook page or sign up to a newsletter available on www.inghampinnock.com