During the next few weeks, about 50 volunteers will be helping to take stock of all the listed buildings in the Staffordshire Moorlands.
Called ‘Counting our Heritage’, the project is one of 18 pilot schemes, financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, that are taking place across England.
The volunteers have been recruited from local amenity groups, historical societies, town councils and parish councils.
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The Heritage Alliance says the government’s proposal to levy the full rate of VAT on alterations to listed buildings is a “new tax on community initiative”.
Responding to HM Revenue & Customs’ consultation on the plans, the Alliance which represents 92 heritage organisations said small building projects would struggle to raise the extra 20 per cent needed to pay the tax.
The National Trust believes the zero VAT rating should be retained for alterations to listed buildings owned by charities to help ensure their survival.
Facing widespread public criticism, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said that an extra £30m a year would be given to the listed places of worship grant scheme which makes grants to churches to cover VAT payable on repairs.
Osborne went on to say the money would be used to repay VAT charged on repairs and maintenance.
The Chancellor’s response which favours religious organisations has infuriated the heritage community.
Only places of worship will benefit from Osborne’s “generosity”. Other listed buildings continue to face an uncertain future.
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The “exceptionally rare” aircraft hanger at RAF Yatesbury
Wiltshire County Council has agreed to allow an “exceptionally rare” WWI aircraft hangar at a former RAF base (RAF Yatesbury) to be demolished by its owner.
The hanger, a grade II* listed building, was going to be restored as part of a £3m scheme. However, the project ran into financial difficulties and work ceased in 2008 when the hanger partially collapsed. The hanger is in an “exceptionally poor state”. According to English Heritage, repair and re-use of the building was “unlikely to be achievable whilst retaining its significance”.
RAF Yatesbury opened in November 1916 as a training depot for the Royal Flying Corps. It later became a permanent air base and was closed in the 1960s.
There are four listed buildings on the site dating from the First World War (1914-18). Three of them are hangars which are on English Heritage’s List of Buildings at Risk.
Site owner Jamal Khanfer said that since restoration work ceased in 2008 the hanger had become “dangerous” and went on to say: ”The case for retaining the structure which is incapable of repair or stabilization is outweighed by the serious health and safety risk it poses to the public if left in situ to decay further.”
Photograph © Copyright Brian Robert Marshall and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
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Pont Briwet Viaduct photographed from Llandecwyn Station
The Snowdonia National Park Authority’s decision to approve plans to demolish Pont Briwet a rare Grade II listed wooden viaduct and replace it with a new road and rail crossing destroys the myth that listed buildings in England and Wales cannot be demolished.
Erected in 1867, the viaduct which was partially rebuilt in 1932 carries the Cambrian Coast Railway and a single-lane toll road for cars over the River Dwyryd in North Wales.
Buildings in Wales which are of “special architectural or historic interest” are listed by the Welsh Assembly while those in England are listed by the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport.
There are three grades of listed building. They are:
Planning authorities, which include borough councils, district councils, unitary authorities and national parks, try to save listed buildings whenever possible but demolition is allowed if the owner can show that:
Photograph © Copyright John Lucas and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
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