NOOKS and CORNERS
WHILE greedy developers and neglectful public authorities are likely to remain a menace to historic buildings in 2026, even careful owners and enthusiastic restorers face being thwarted by the nation’s worsening shortage of heritage skills.
Last November the Victorian Society uncovered the shocking situation in Birmingham, where the planning department once had seven conservation officers to ensure applications for listed building consent were given prompt and proper consideration and to monitor the condition of the city’s heritage assets. Now it has just one part-timer.
Birmingham is not alone. Bury council’s website notes that it doesn’t employ any conservation officers, merely engaging an expert to do individual reports when needed. And when Broxtowe borough council was considering a retrofit scheme to 70 houses in a conservation area last year, it had to borrow another council’s conservation officer to write a report, as it didn’t have one.