Notes of the proceedings of the study visit to Newcastle upon Tyne on 3 and 5 July 2007
INHERIT Persons Present:
EAHTR - Brian Smith and Ian Walters
Göteborg - Anna-Johanna Klasander, Susanne Lager and Mary Halvordsson
Newcastle upon Tyne - Ian Ayris and Fiona Cullen
Verona - Arnaldo Vecchietti
Belfast - Siobhan Stevenson and Robert Heslip
Gdansk - Joanna Zbierska and Malgorzata Ratkowska
QUB - Chris Tweed and Margaret Sutherland
Apologies for absence: Ubeda
1. The Overall Programme for the Site Visits and Presentations
The study visit started with contextual presentations about the structure of Newcastle City Council, the history of Newcastle, the City’s conservation policies, city centre projects and English planning and conservation legislation. This was followed by walking tours of Grainger Town, the site of the Heart of the City Project and the Sandhill/Quayside area.
The second day involved presentations by representatives from English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the North of England Civic Trust about their work in Newcastle. There were then walking tours of the Lower Ouseburn Valley and the Byker housing estate.
2. Newcastle City Council – presentation by Ian Ayris & Fiona Cullen
The city of Newcastle upon Tyne covers an area of 113sq km and in 2005 had a population of 276,400. Newcastle is the regional capital of the Tyne and Wear area which comprises five local authorities that has a population of 1.1 million.
The City Council’s ‘vision’ is to create a vibrant, inclusive, safe and sustainable city. This vision aims to build on the heritage, cultural and economic strengths of Newcastle and the sense of identity and civic pride of the people. The aims are to improve the quality of life for the people in their communities and to play a leading role in the sustainable growth and prosperity of the region.
The City Council has an overall structure of six Directorates covering regeneration, adult services, children’s’ services, city service, neighbourhood services and the chief executive’s office. The regeneration directorate includes seven divisions, one of which covers planning and transportation which includes urban design and conservation plus seven other groups. Within the urban design and conservation group, there is a historic environment section which is responsible for built heritage conservation, promotion of the historic environment, archaeology and for a team dealing with conservation and archaeology across the whole Tyne and Wear area.
The City Council is run by the Liberal Democrat party and their strong support for heritage matters was evident at the INHERIT reception in the Castle Keep.
3. The History of Newcastle upon Tyne - presentation by Ian Ayris
In its earliest form, the settlement was a bridgehead of the Roman Empire. The advent of Norman control in the 11th century saw the establishment of Newcastle’s urban landscape and the construction of the royal castle, founded in 1080. Subsequently, the urban footprint of Newcastle was created including its walled defences, the Cathedral, several churches and its medieval street pattern.
By the 17th century Newcastle was considered a regional capital and the second town of the Kingdom. Industrial development came early to Tyneside. The mining of coal took place throughout the medieval period and the plentiful supply led to the establishment of extensive industries, notably the production of glass and pottery. During the post-medieval period Newcastle expanded beyond its defensive walls.
In the 1830s entrepreneur Richard Grainger developed new Georgian streets within the medieval town transforming it from a ‘coal hole of the north’ into a ‘city of palaces’. The later 19th century saw the development of a golden age of heavy industry on Tyneside based on coal, iron and steam.
Newcastle continued to be a focus for innovation, which heralded enormous and rapid changes in technology, life and society in the 20th century. During the inter-war years of the 20th century, the wholesale collapse of the area’s industrial base, resulting from the over concentration of activity in the mining, shipbuilding, armaments and heavy engineering industries, left a legacy of decline which the city and the region was forced to struggle with for decades. The Tyne and Wear Development Corporation was set up in the late 1980’s to redevelop the Tyne riverside of both Newcastle and Gateshead. The mainstays of the city’s economy are the strong service sector, local and central government and the two universities.
The city has a significant and substantial historic environment with 1730 Listed Buildings (prior to the listing of the Byker estate), 11 designated Conservation Areas, 14 Scheduled Ancient Monuments, seven Registered Parks and Gardens and one Historic Battlefield.
4. The Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 - presentation by Fiona Cullen
This major legislation provides clearer direction from central government in terms of planning policy statements, an enhanced regional spatial strategy, a local development framework and a government minister for each region. The regional strategy for North East England recognises the historic environment, the need for urban regeneration, a requirement for 1000 new dwellings per year and stresses the importance of sustainability in development and planning generally.
The core themes of the City Council relate to growing the economy and population, encouraging growth in regeneration areas, ensuring sustainable communities, setting standards for quality, respecting local distinctiveness and character and having regard to the effects on climate change.
There is currently considerable change regarding policies relating to the conservation of the historic environment in the UK. The Government has published in 2007 a White Paper on “Heritage Protection for the 21st Century”. The main changes proposed in this document relate to a unified listing of historic assets, new consultation and appeal procedures, the introduction of historic asset consents, an enhanced system of control and the introduction of heritage partnership agreements.
5. English Heritage - presentation by Carol Pyrah
Carol Pyrah is the Regional Director of English Heritage for the North East of England. She explained that English Heritage was founded in 1983 as a non governmental organisation, but the Chief Executive and the Board members are all appointed by the Government which is also the main source of funding. EH owns, manages and cares for some 400 historic properties in England, which include abbeys, castles, ruins and stately homes. There is, in each region, a planning and development group, which provides advice and grants to the owners of historic buildings.
Carol described the concept of the heritage cycle, which includes understanding, valuing, caring and enjoying the built heritage. Understanding involves identifying and recording, research, information and training. Valuing is about showing the value of heritage through campaigns, research studies, annual surveys, etc. The Government has proposed a unified designation system for heritage assets that will become law in 2008/9 (Heritage Protection White Paper). Caring includes encouraging local authorities to appoint historic environment champions, providing expert advice to property owners, maintaining registers of heritage assets at risk, preparing and reviewing national and regional policies, etc. Enjoying relates to the 400 properties owned and managed by EH but also includes educational and outreach work, heritage open days, heritage events, etc.
6. Heritage Lottery Fund - presentation by Keith Bartlett
Keith Bartlett is the regional manager of HLF for the North East of England. He explained that the National Lottery was established in 1994 and that its scope covered arts, sport, and heritage and community activities.
His role is to be an advocate for heritage in the region. The 2002 Strategic Plan for the Heritage Lottery Fund includes conserving and enhancing heritage, getting more people involved in heritage and supporting the educational aspects of heritage. There is an equitable spread of funds across the UK and there are 3 main categories of grants – Awards for All for grants of up to £5000, Your Heritage for projects seeking £5000 to £50,000 and Heritage Grants of more than £50,000.
In the North East, the vast majority of grants are targeted on regeneration projects and the most economically and socially deprived areas. For example,
£15million has been allocated to projects in Sunderland and £6.9million to the Saltwell Park in Gateshead. Other regional projects included local business development providing services to walkers on Hadrian’s Wall Trail; a coal mining museum at Woodham Colliery the last surviving pithead in Northumberland; the restoration of a 19th century warship in Hartlepool which was the catalyst for the regeneration of the port area; the Discovery Museum in Newcastle which is the largest Victorian building in the city, attracting over 200,000 visitors per year and the Coxhoe Banner Group in Durham which preserves and restores the coal miners’ banners used in parades and other local events.
7. North of England Civic Trust - presentation by Jules Brown
This Civic Trust is a regional charity, independent of Government, which was set up in the 1950’s. It is a building preservation trust and a charitable consultancy dealing with the historic built environment. The Trust works with community partnerships, seeks to raise standards by promoting good design and aims to increase access to heritage through heritage open days, etc.
The building project work has included –
· Belford Hall in Northumberland was derelict in the 1970’s, purchased and restored by the Trust and converted into apartments; and
· The Exchange Building in Sunderland was restored over a six year period at a cost of £2.5million.
The Trust has also been involved in consultancy work relating to heritage matters such as the proposal to list the whole of the Byker estate in Newcastle as a heritage asset. The estate comprises 2500 houses and has 9500 residents. In this case, the work involved using several means of community consultation about the proposed listing of the estate.
8. Site Visits
The study visit included guided walking tours of Grainger Town, the site of the Heart of the City Project, the Sandhill and Quayside area, the Lower Ouseburn Valley and the Byker Estate.
Ian Walters
INHERIT
Project Coordinator