PP8 Built and Cultural Heritage April 2016
Contents Introduction 3 About the Irish Planning Institute 5 PP8 Built and Cultural Heritage 6 8.1 Introduction 6 8.2 The Economic Value of the Historic Environment 7 8.3 Preservation of the Historic Environment and Climate Change 8 8.4 The Historic Environment and Urban Regeneration 9 8.5 The Role of the Planning system in protecting Intangible Cultural Heritage 9 8.6 The Irish Planning Institute s Position 10 Page2
Introduction Planners have a responsibility to influence, shape, form, and plan for a new future and the Irish Planning Institute s series of Position Papers set out the Institute s view on the role of planning in advancing key issues affecting the island of Ireland. The purpose of these is to provide a clear statement on the IPI s direction for planning to promote: vibrant communities, a strong and viable economy, and a clean and healthy environment. Taken together the papers provide a consistent framework for more detailed IPI policy submissions on specific planning issues. It will also provide an instructive and strategic overview on key planning issues in short accessible papers for members of the public. Spatial planning is an area of study encompassing an immense range of diverse topics. It is neither practical nor possible to outline a policy position on all topics related to spatial planning or on all topics which professional planners are working on today. With this in mind and for ease of reference, this document outlines the Institute s position on one of eleven core areas of planning policy. While the areas do not constitute a comprehensive overview of all spatial planning issues, they do represent topics on which the opinion of the Institute has been frequently sought in recent years. The eleven core areas are: 1. Resource Management 2. Settlement and Housing 3. Carbon Free Society by 2050 4. Marine Spatial Planning 5. Access 6. Planning for a Sustainable Economy 7. Fiscal Policy for Planning Page3 8. Built and Cultural Heritage
9. Landscape and Seascape 10. Agriculture and Forestry 11. Public Engagement in Decision-Making Our Position Papers are intended to be a living document, subject to a process of continuous review and expansion. As part of this process, it is intended that further papers on sectoral themes within spatial planning will be added to the initial eleven core topics. The papers were drafted with the input of senior and expert members of the planning profession serving on the IPI Council and through the IPI Policy and Research Committee Special Interest Fora. The Institute would like to extend our most sincere thanks to members for volunteering their time and expertise in putting this document together. The purpose of this document is to inform the activities and policy approaches of the Institute and nothing in this document should be taken as indicating the views of individual members or as forming part of the code of conduct for members of the Institute. Page4
About the Irish Planning Institute Founded in 1975, the Irish Planning Institute is the professional body representing the majority of professional planners engaged in physical, spatial and environmental planning in Ireland and Irish planners practicing overseas. The Irish Planning Institute s mission is to advance planning by serving, improving and promoting the planning profession for the benefit of the community and the common good. Page5
PP8 Built and Cultural Heritage 8.1 Introduction The International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites (The Venice Charter 1964), to which Ireland is signatory, forms the basis for a modern approach to the protection of built heritage: Imbued with a message from the past, the historic monuments of generations of people remain to the present day as living witnesses of their age-old traditions. People are becoming more and more conscious of the unity of human values and regard ancient monuments as a common heritage. The common responsibility to safeguard them for future generations is recognized. It is our duty to hand them on in the full richness of their authenticity. Over the course of the decades since the signing of the Venice Charter, Ireland has become party to numerous international conventions and charters, which build on the work of the Venice Charter and recognise the complexity of Ireland s built and cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. Intangible cultural heritage is described in the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (as ratified by Ireland in December 2015) as follows: The intangible cultural heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. Page6 Ireland has a very rich, complex and layered cultural heritage, a heritage that is unique to Ireland and defines our National identity. This cultural heritage encompasses legend, landscape, language, literature, music, art, theatre, and sport. Ireland is internationally renowned in each and every one of these areas. Ireland has a remarkable density of historic buildings and sites, each phase in our cultural history adding a layer to what was there before. Early Christian sites layered on places of ancient Celtic ceremony and
significance, later Norman and monastic sites adding a further layer, all these layers then taken into the creation of 18 th and 19 th century designed landscapes and urban form; and all of this set in the beautiful and varied Irish landscape. For some 300 years in the early Christian period, Ireland was the centre of learning in the Western World. Few countries in the world can claim such cultural richness; and there is no country of comparative size that come any where close to Ireland in the impact its distinctive culture has made on the world. Ireland s historic environment is an intrinsic part of who we are as individuals, as communities and as a people it is our home and it is our responsibility to protect this heritage for future generations. 8.2 The Economic Value of the Historic Environment In recent times, we have become increasingly aware of the value of our historic environment as an economic asset. The Heritage Council s 2011 publication Economic Evaluation of the Historic Environment Ireland revealed that heritage and Ireland s historic environment is estimated to account for 1.5 billion or 1% of the State s Gross Value Added (GVA) and approximately 65,000 employment positions. Of these figures, the report estimated that, including indirect and induced effects, tourism expenditure attributable to the historic environment supports more than 17,000 (17,129) FTE employees in Ireland and that [i]n terms of national income, this translates into an economic impact of approximately 650 (645) million towards Ireland's GVA. The report Assessment of Possible Fiscal Incentives in Relation to the Built Heritage in Ireland s Towns produced by Peter Bacon & Associates Economic Consultants and published in January 2014 has highlighted the cost savings that can be achieved by refurbishing a heritage building rather than demolishing it. Page7 International research is instructive on the economic benefits associated with mechanisms for the protection of the historic environment only recently introduced in Ireland (e.g. Architectural Conservation Areas). English Heritage commissioned the London School of Economics and Political Science to undertake statistical analysis of more than 1 million property transactions carried out between 1995 and 2010 and data on more than 8,000 English conservation areas. The results of this analysis, published in May 2012 in a report entitled An Assessment of the Effects of Conservation Areas on Value by Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt, Nancy Holman and Nicolai Wendland, found that houses in conservation areas sell for higher prices (23% higher on average) and show a greater appreciation in value than houses in other areas, even after figures are adjusted for location and house type.
Recent research of this kind brings the importance of protecting Ireland s historic environment sharply into focus. However, the true value of our historic environment and the benefits of its conservation and protection can never be fully quantified in economic terms. 8.3 Preservation of the Historic Environment and Climate Change The 2011 publication The Greenest Building: Quantifying the Environmental Value of Building Reuse of the Preservation Green Lab (a part of the US National Trust for Historic Preservation), which found that reuse of buildings with an average level of energy performance consistently offers immediate climate-change impact reductions compared to more energy-efficient new construction. The document goes on to state that: Most climate scientists agree that action in the immediate timeframe is crucial to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. Reusing existing buildings can offer an important means of avoiding unnecessary carbon outlays and help communities achieve their carbon reduction goals in the near term. There is a danger that policy for combating climate change places too much emphasis on measures and tools for reducing energy consumption in new and existing buildings without making reference to the energy savings inherent in re-use of existing buildings over the construction of new development. This is also referenced in Bacon s Assessment of Possible Fiscal Incentives in Relation to the Built Heritage in Ireland s Towns, which states: an EPHC report from Australia relates research that it takes 30 years for a new building to realise energy savings, when compared with the option of renovating an older building. It identifies the need for the Environmental Impact Analysis required when investing in a heritage building to prove that the existing building cannot be adapted, and to compare the energy requirements, including materials, for renovation and replacement respectively. In this way, the regulation pro-actively incentivises restoration. Page8 In addition to avoiding loss of the embodied energy within historic buildings, preservation of the historic environment can also result in energy savings and emission reduction by encouraging more sustainable transport and more efficient use of existing infrastructure as a huge proportion of heritage buildings are located in urban areas and/or on brownfield sites. Heritage buildings also tend to be sited with greater ecological sensitivity (e.g. are
less likely to be subject to flooding; have secured the preservation of ancient woodlands for generations as part of designed landscapes; etc.). 8.4 The Historic Environment and Urban Regeneration The economic value of our historic environment should not provide the sole reason and rationale for its conservation. Encouraging the protection and conservation of heritage buildings can result in major, but intangible, benefits for the people living in heritage towns. The large majority of our historic building stock has remained in active use since its original construction. That a building can be in continuous occupation for centuries is testament to the quality of its construction and its adaptability to the changing needs of a modern society. However, the movement of people into the suburbs has wreaked havoc on many of our historic towns and cities. Vacancy, and the dereliction that follows it over time, can spread like cancer through our historic towns. As buildings fall into disrepair, the area becomes less attractive to families and businesses and, in turn, the rate of vacancy and dereliction can grow. Communities become fragmented and, with fewer eyes on the street, anti-social and criminal behaviour can escalate. The reverse is also true. Often, all it needs is for one ordinary person to lead the way and bring a building back to what it once was to trigger a forgotten pride in a historic town and bring about meaningful urban regeneration. Regeneration of the historic environment can rebuild communities and make a town a vibrant place where people want to live, work and do business. 8.5 The Role of the Planning system in protecting Intangible Cultural Heritage Page9 The protection of intangible cultural heritage, such as language, tradition, folklore and popular belief, poses unique challenges, including the need to both safeguard such cultural heritage, while also allowing traditions to change and evolve. It is essential that a strategy for the identification, appreciation and protection of Ireland s intangible cultural heritage be developed at national level. In tandem with a programme of training and education for relevant built environment professionals, the planning process will play a significant role in the protection of Ireland s cultural heritage by raising awareness at local, regional and national levels of the importance of the intangible cultural heritage. Plan-led development should also seek to facilitate and encourage the celebration of intangible cultural heritage in a sustainable way (e.g. events and festivals, traditional music, industries and crafts).
The development plan will be a key tool in the protection of assets intangible cultural heritage where they are endangered by economic, political and social forces such as socioeconomic marginalisation. For example, the provisions of the Planning and Development Acts are used to support the use of Irish as a living language in Gaeltacht areas. 8.6 The Irish Planning Institute s Position 1. There is no single measure, regulation or incentive that can ensure the protection of Ireland s historic environment. 2. It is essential that the planning system take into account the heritage value of the historic environment (i.e. authenticity, rarity, contribution to context, intangible value, etc.); the contribution of the historic environment to the national, regional and local economy; and the significant positive effects that preservation and re-use of the historic environment can have in terms of avoiding unnecessary carbon outlays as part of both the forward planning and development management processes. 3. Consideration should be given to requiring energy cost accounting of all proposals for the demolition of existing historic buildings and replacement with new structures. 4. The current system of listing of heritage buildings and sites of importance is too crude and spread across too many regulatory systems to allow for an adequate level of certainty for owners, occupiers, developers, investors and the general public. Statutory provisions for the protection of the historic environment would benefit from rationalisation and review, to include a grading system for protected buildings. 5. Stronger and clearer guidance, regulation and enforcement will play a significant role in conservation and protection of architectural, archaeological and cultural heritage. 6. Training for planners in the core principles of conservation is of critical importance, particularly given that not all historic buildings and sites of importance have been identified or have been subject to statutory protection. Page10
7. Education of the public (to include a targeted campaign for owners and occupiers of heritage buildings) will also be required to, inter alia, allow owner / occupiers to comply with their obligations not to endanger protected structures and to address issues of energy efficiency (e.g. given that much is made of the cost of running a heritage building in terms of heating due to necessary restrictions on the installation of insulation and double-glazing, the reduction in other energy costs, such as transport costs and construction costs, associated with refurbishing a town centre historic building should be highlighted). 8. A comprehensive package of financial incentives will offset concerns about the cost of refurbishing heritage buildings and facilitate people wishing to move into our historic towns and cities. Page11
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