Grants to be given for the restoration of listed buildings

WQ.484/2023

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT BY DEPUTY M. TADIER OF ST. BRELADE

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 4th DECEMBER 2023 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 11th DECEMBER 2023

Question

“Further to the response to OQ.225/2023 (Hansard) in which the Assistant Minister stated that the fund relating to Article 56 of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002 (“the Law”), which permitted grants to be given for the restoration of listed buildings, had not been replenished, will the Minister –

1. explain why this funding was stopped, including whose decision it was to cease the funding;
2. advise when the lasttime such a grant was made under Article 56 of the Law;
3. state when the powers available under Article 84 (1) and (2) ofthe Law were last used and for what reason; and
4. explain his vision for the protection of listed buildings in prominent public areas which are currently falling into disrepair, including but not limited to, the former ‘La Folie Inn’ site?”

Answer

1. The Historic Building Repair Grant Scheme was approved by theStates in 1995 in recognition ofthe perception of additional responsibilities which the owners of registered buildings (the precursor to listed buildings) carry. The Historic Building Repair Grants scheme introduced in1997 was targeted specifically at proposed Sites of Special Interest and Sites of Special Interest (now referred toas ‘listed buildings’ which numbered around 800 buildings at that time) and received an annual budget of £100,000 funded from the then Planning and Environment revenue budget.

The budget available to the scheme was reduced to £75,000 by 2001 because of pressures on revenue funds. In 2002, the scheme was extended to include buildings of local interest (BLIs), which expanded the number of potentially eligible properties to over 4,000. An additional £60,000 was allocated specifically for BLI grants giving a total Historic Building Grant budget of £135,000 in 2002. In 2003, the schemes were combined into a single budget with a total annual allocation of £75,000; this was reduced to £60,000 the following year. The award of grant monies is discretionary spend and the amount of money to support historic building grants continued to be reduced in the face of the need to make budget savings across the public sector.

In 2010, the Minister for the Environment embarked on a fundamental review of the island’s historic environment protection regime (Review of the protection of heritage regime - consultation response (gov.je)). In essence, this involved the replacement of the two-tier structure of designation and protection (involving SSIs and BLIs) with a single designation for buildings and places (listed buildings and places). The Minister for the Environment proposed that an integral part of the review was a comprehensive re- survey of all of the Island’s existing and potential heritage assets, to re-assess and evaluate their heritage value. This comprehensive re-survey was undertaken between 2010 and 2013, where this work was funded from monies previously used to support the award of historic building grants.

Upon and since completion of the comprehensive re-survey in 2013, there have been insufficient professional and discretionary financial resources available within the Historic Environment team and associated revenue budgets to re-establish an historic buildings grant scheme.

2. It is believed that the last grants to be offered, underthe auspices of Article 56, were for repair works to Ashley Court[1], St John (LBG2), for the repair and restoration of the bell tower and weathervane; and to Samarès Manor[2] (LBG1) for works to the roof of the colombier. These

granted-assisted works were completed in 2009.

3. The last Notice issued pursuant to Article 84of the Planning & Building (Jersey) Law 2002 was issued on 2 September 2022. This was a combined Land Condition Notice including reference to Articles 84,86 and 89.The Notice was issued for the following reasons: It appears tothe Chief Officer that the amenities (visual or otherwise) of the land known as ‘Le Côtil de Délà’ is being adversely affected by its condition oruse. ‘Le Côtil de Délà’ lies within the; ‘Green Zone’ as defined inthe Bridging Island Plan 2022 (Policy NE3), ‘Water Pollution Safeguard Area’ as defined inthe Bridging Island Plan 2022 (Policy WER5) and ‘Strategic Countryside Access Site’ as defined in the Bridging Island Plan 2022 (Policy C19) and is therefore given a high level of protection. The current condition and useof ‘Le Côtil de Délà’ is considered to have a significant adverse impact upon the landscape character of this sensitive rural area.

Notice link: LD Enforcement Notice -ENF-2022-00006 -02.09.2022.pdf (gov.je)

The Section of the Notice relating to Article 84 required the removal of eight ruinous and

dilapidated wooden and metal structures and associated paraphernalia.

4. Retaining historic buildings in viable useis key to their retention and maintenance. Thisisof the utmost importance to ensure their long-term presence and care; and in ensuring their continued contribution to the island’s sense of place, character and identity. This principle applies to all historic buildings and not just those that are in prominent public areas, such as La Folie Inn.

Change in the historic environment is inevitable and adaptation or development will often be the key to securing the future of historic buildings and places. Managing change to historic buildings is regulated through the planning process. The planning policy regime set out in the bridging Island Plan, together with associated supplementary planning guidance, supports the objective of seeking to ensure viable uses

for historic buildings.

Officers endeavour to work constructively with owners of listed buildings to enable their beneficial viable use and change, to best protect their significance. Some successful examples of this include the former Le Seelleur Workshop[3] (Oxford Road); Sion Methodist Church[4] (La Grande Route de St Jean); Hope Villa[5] (La Grande Route de la Cote); and 37-39 King Street[6] (formerly “Hamon’s” now “Collins”).

One of Jersey’s great challenges is how we adapt the old – in terms of historic buildings and places – to make them relevant to our modern needs. I regard that challenge as an opportunity. Our historic built environment is part of what makes Jersey unique and in seeking to repurpose historic buildings we therefore reinforce our special island identity, whilst modernising our built environment for contemporary purposes.

Historic environment officers already work with owners of listed buildings, vacant or not, to enable repairs and restoration of key parts of these buildings to keep them wind and watertight. Ensuring that vacant buildings are maintained in a watertight condition is critical to enable future proposals to bring them back into viable uses.

For owners of large, complex buildings such as the grade 1 listed former Odeon Cinema[7] in Bath Street, historic environment officers have worked with the owners and their agents to facilitate works to repair and change the building. Works to repair the roof and gutters have protected the integrity of this building to enable internal changes to bring parts of the building back into a new use. Some works to the façade have also been agreed to help ensure that the integrity of the built fabric is secured. Ongoing discussions continue to help manage changes to support the current uses within the building. As shown by this particular example, work can be undertaken to listed buildings to ensure the integrity of the built fabric, which is not always evident in public views, but which is essential to ensure the long-term viability of listed buildings.

Maintenance of listed buildings owned by major landowners, such as Ports of Jersey, Andium Homes and Jersey Property Holdings, is part of established and ongoing discussions with historic environment officers.

Work is currently being undertaken to explore options to proactively support and deliver the viable re-use and appropriate restoration of more listed buildings, including vacant homes. This will include consideration of all mechanisms that might be potentially available, including persuasive compliance and the potential use of legislative powers, with a view to the development and adoption of policy and guidance. This work is underway and will be progressed into 2024.