DON’T DROP UK’S HERITAGE LIFELINE
Organisation calls for £450m funding of UK’s historic assets not to be axed
‘We want a guarantee that heritage funding is sustained after Brexit’
Amajor organisation representing Britain’s heritage interests – including classic owners – has called for a £450m funding lifeline from the EU to be guaranteed after next week’s generation election.
The Heritage Alliance, which is supported by the Federation of
British Historic Vehicle
Clubs (FBHVC), launched a manifesto document calling on all of Britain’s political parties to guarantee that funding currently used for heritage projects will not be dropped in the event of Britain leaving the EU. It said that historic vehicles were part of a unique offer on the national and international stage and should play a central role in the promotion of the UK.
The main beneficiaries of the funding are museums, with EU funding being used at Coventry Transport Museum, Pendine’s Sands of Speed venue, currently being built, and the Dundee Transport Museum’s scheme to redevelop the former Maryfield Tram Depot.
A spokesperson said: ‘Heritagerelated projects and scientific research received at least £450m in funding via the EU over the last decade, bolstering tourism, creating jobs and saving important elements of our heritage and identity.
‘ We want to see a guarantee that funding for heritage is matched and sustained after Brexit.’
In addition, it has called for any new government to ensure that historic vehicles are not ‘inadvertently caught out’ by emissions targets and restrictions on what it says is their ‘ limited, but essential’ fuel use, a reference to the proposed introduction of higher octane fuel at UK filling stations.
CCW has approached all of the major UK political parties for their views on classics, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats so far sharing details of their polices ( CCW, 27 November). The Conservatives have hinted at provisions to help classic owners, with transport minister, Chris Heaton-Harris, mentioning a possible fuel protection grade for classic owners.
The FBHVC’s own figures show that direct spending on historic vehicles is worth £1.85bn per year, up from £1.4bn in 2016, with 23 million people seeing older as an important part of the UK’s heritage.
FBHVC communications director, Wayne Scott, said: ‘Transport is a hugely important part of Britain’s national heritage, and so we work with the Heritage Alliance in making sure that the political parties appreciate just how important it is for our heritage – including classic cars – to be protected and preserved for future generations.
‘ We’ve campaigned for historic vehicles to be seen as heritage assets, in the same way that historic buildings and other sites are, and we want to make sure the government sees them in the same vein.’