Casework Report

Autumn 2012

Building proposals affecting Lutyens’s work are not always known to the Trust because we are not a ‘statutory consultee’, as are the major amenity societies.

Due to Dr Mervyn Miller’s work over many years we are frequently notified by a variety of sources including by Conservation Officers in Local Planning Authorities.

A major public proposal is the moving of the Cenotaph in St Peter’s Square, Manchester. (EL 1926). Quite apart from the dismal redesign proposed for the Square, the Trust argues that the new space for the Cenotaph is inadequate and unsuitable for the memorial and we oppose the application to move it to the site.

The Trust joined with local people in successfully opposing the siting of a wind farm which lay within the north view from Gledstone Hall and gardens. Most cases we comment on are small changes which affect the character of Lutyens’s buildings.

The government considers that the Listed Building system is a hindrance to economic growth and should be simplified. Many of these changes (recommended by the Renfold Report in 2010) will be a damaging relaxation of protection for heritage buildings, although many owners will welcome them. You can see these proposals on www.bis.gov.uk.

Anthony Richardson, Architectural Adviser