City heritage ‘in crisis’ as conservation areas axed
‘Lack of council support’ leaves policy to protect history in ruins
THE council has been forced to abandon its own conservation policies in historic parts of Bir- mingham after it failed to support them, claim heritage experts.
Policies to protect three areas will be scrapped because the authority cannot enforce planning regulations, it has emerged. A further six conservation areas are also now deemed to be at risk. Council heritage champion Phil Davis said: “The service has been cut back and we have simply lost the capacity to look after the conservation areas. There is a real crisis.”
THE council’s failure to support its own conservation policies has led to a heritage crisis in Birmingham, claim critics.
The historic fabric of some areas is now ‘in crisis’ as the authority has been forced to scrap several conservation areas because it cannot enforce regulations within them anymore.
A further six areas are also deemed to be “at risk” as buildings are modified or left to fall into disrepair, a report to the council’s Conservation and Heritage Panel has revealed.
The three century-old conservation areas affected are the Ideal Village in Bordesley Green, the Austin Village in Longbridge, and the Hagley Road/Barnsley Road area in Edgbaston.
Two of them have already seen serious downgrading in the last decade, with so many residents in the Ideal Village installing UPVC windows that a rule demanding timber frames had to be scrapped.
The demolition of eight derelict listed homes in Edgbaston’s Hagley Road to make way for a retirement village also dealt a major blow to the so-called Barnsley Road Conservation Area, known for its Victorian Arts and Crafts housing.
The problem was described as a “crisis” in conservation by the council’s heritage champion Phil Davis, who blamed cuts to funding.
He said: “There’s a problem with us meeting our responsibilities for conservation.
“The service has been cut back over the last 15 years and we have simply lost the capacity to look after the conservation areas.
“There is a real crisis. In my role I see that people do value the city’s heritage and I will continue to tell the council leadership that we need more support.”
The council has reduced the num- ber of specialist conservation officers from seven to two in recent years but they still have responsibility for overseeing some 2,000 listed buildings and 30 conservation areas.
Councillor Davis (Lab, Billesley) said that a possible solution was closer working with neighbouring councils through the new West Midlands Combined Authority.
A report to the conservation panel said Austin Village had seen a “serious loss of historic fabric and insensitive alterations to plots”.
A key feature of the area were 250 timber bungalows built for Longbridge factory workers during the First World War. Similar comments were made about the Hagley/Barnsley Road area, named after the Arts and Crafts architect Ernest Barnsley, and the Ideal Village, which was named after the Ideal Benefit Society which built the houses.
Also listed as ‘at risk’ were the Digbeth, Deri
tend, Bordesley High Streets, and ‘Warwick Bar’ near the city centre, which could be merged and re-appraised under the Curzon Street Masterplan.
Four further sites at Four Oaks in Sutton Coldfield, Lozells and Soho Hill, School Road in Hall Green, and Steelhouse Lane in the city centre were also thought to be ‘at risk’.
Panel member and architect Joe Holyoak said that he and colleague Tim Bridges, of the Victorian Society, were pushing for the Edgbaston Barnsley Road area to be redrawn rather than scrapped altogether.
He added: “The de-designation proposal is an admission that the city’s conservation policy has failed. There are two main reasons.
“First is the under-staffing of the conservation team. Currently, we have two conservation officers, both of whom I consider are excellent. A few years ago we had seven.
“Second, is the failure of successive planning committees to support the conservation policy.
“One glaring example was the decision to allow the demolition of the houses on the south side of Hagley Road in the Barnsley Road conservation area, contrary to policy, which is a major factor behind the proposal to de-designate the conservation area.”
The report will be forwarded to a future meeting of the planning committee for approval.
Currently we have two conservation officers. A few years ago we had seven Architect Joe Holyoak