Townscape Heritage Initiative Phase 1 (2001 to 2004)

• Location: Stonehouse: Plymouth, South West
• Grant awarded: £500,000
• Total eligible project cost: £1,500,000
• Type of heritage: Historic buildings and public realm

The Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and helps to regenerate historic areas where funding building conservation costs can help save buildings at risk and empty homes of architectural or historic interest.

The area, which includes the historic Union Street, benefited from a £1,500,000 investment package from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the European Regional Development Fund, the South West Regional Development Agency, the Single Regeneration Budget, the Housing Corporation and Empty Homes grant.

One of the key objectives of the THI was to link into a partnership commitment working with the Empty Homes Partnership and the Stonehouse and Millbay Neighbourhood Project partnership. The strategy was to set a relatively small number of key projects which cross the social, economic and environmental spectrum in which there is a strong emphasis on outcomes.

The THI has demonstrated its ability to dovetail very effectively into the mainstream regeneration programme for Stonehouse, Plymouth. It has been particularly successful in integrating its aims and objectives with those of the St Peter SRB Round 2 Scheme 1996 to 2003, the Europe (Objective 2) programme and the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. It has also influenced the pattern of urban regeneration.

As well as economic regeneration, the THI has played an invaluable role in maximising the provision of affordable housing working in partnership with Registered Social Landlords and targeting long term empty homes. The physical rejuvenation and economic activity of the area achieved by the THI can be sustained by developing future initiatives which focus more on unemployment, crime, health, basic skills, social enterprise and social capital. This helps meeting the Government’s agenda for Sustainable Communities.

Without the benefit of the THI, it would have been very difficult to achieve sustainable regeneration other than ‘facelifts’. There would not have been sufficient public subsidy to instill the level of confidence in building owners to invest substantially in the repair of the historic built fabric in order to make a real difference. Instead, with a legacy of depressed property values (1996 to 2004), the costs involved in attaining a tangible benefit to building assets would invariably have been prohibitive. Coupled with the desirability to reinstate architectural features and details in traditional materials, these types of costs without THI grant could not have been remunerated.

The THI as a product has been well publicised and promoted including engaging the local community with a linked ‘Awards For All’ project where residents through a walks and talks series have been encouraged to participate in events to enable them to learn about the history of their locality. The THI project manager has also given seminars to Slovenian and Hungarian organizations (2004) whose countries, having joined the EU are keen to learn about applying for Structural Funds.

Not only has the THI faced head on the ‘problem’ historic buildings displaying the long term symptoms of decay and neglect but it has also proved to be a catalyst in accelerating the pace of private sector led regeneration in Stonehouse through the judicious selection of key target properties. To raise the stakes and declare an area worthy of THI investment leaves significant exemplars of repaired historic buildings and enables other linked initiatives to be supported which enhance the range of outputs that add value (public as well as conservation benefits) to the building projects.

Examples include:

• ERDF (Building projects) - security improvements, disabled access and provisions for the disabled, bringing additional historic floorspace back into use thereby creating extra jobs
• ERDF (Transport infrastructure/Environmental works projects) - public realm works which enhance the streetscape, improve traffic safety, implement transport management measures that reduce the impact of the car - for instance cycleways, home zone street works, widened pavements, upgraded lighting, better use of open spaces, tree planting
• Housing Corporation Social Housing Grant/Empty Property Grant - a significant number of long term empty properties of historic interest have been saved making excellent use of the Approved Development Programme working in partnership with a variety of different partners
• NRF - crime reduction initiatives through CCTV cameras installation and monitoring, pilot neighbourhood warden scheme and installation of traffic management devices in connection with home zone works
• SRB - input through linked initiative of major refurbishment programme of Council owned blocks of flats across partnership area ( approx 900 units)
• SWRDA - commission of the Millbay Action Plan (2004) to meet the needs of local people, provide a mixture of housing, places to work, leisure facilities, small shops and new employment, make the most of the waterfront and make it accessible to all, improve transport in the area and to and from the city Centre
• PCC - preparation of the Local Development Framework and Millbay and Stonehouse Area Action Plan (2005) Outlines the core principles for future proposals and preferred options for the area that will guide the development and regeneration of Millbay and Stonehouse

As the THI Phase 1 drew to a close in 2004, it was clear that numerous properties including some targeted for repair in the Action Plan are now being refurbished without any grant aid. This clearly indicates a recovering property market which is proving to be more attractive to investors than at the start of the THI in 2000/2001.

However we do not pretend to have solved all the redundant buildings at risk problems, but with the THI Phase 2 programme that commenced in June 2003, we are more in a position of strength to tackle these problematic buildings in the context of a substantially regenerated local environment, and one which has a planned future.

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