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Application form
Please make sure you have read all the notes carefully before you start to fill in the application form. This application form can either be completed by hand or electronically - it is available on the Planning homepage at www.scotland.gov.uk/planning. Please complete all five sections. The deadline for submitting applications is 29 August 2007. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to the person who has completed this form.
1 Please provide a name and contact details of the lead organisation responsible for this work.
Name | Karl Doroszenko |
Job title | Development Planning & Regeneration Manager |
Organisation | East Ayrshire Council |
Address | 6 Croft Street, Kilmarnock, KA1 1JB |
Telephone | 01563 576751 |
Fax | 01563 576774 |
Email | karl.doroszenko@east-ayrshire.gov.uk |
2 If this is a joint application, please list the other partners who had a key role. You should also inform your partners that you are nominating the project for an award.
1 Austin-Smith:Lord LLP | 2 Historic Scotland |
3 Scottish Lime Centre | 4 Copyprint - Ayr |
5 East Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership | 6 |
3 Tick one nomination category
Title of entry | Kilmarnock Conservation Area Maintenance Guide |
Please complete the form on the following pages by providing a brief summary of the piece of work you have entered. You must also conclude with a key reason as to why you think this work merits an Award. Only the two A4 pages supplied here can be used and your text must fit within the boxes. The font size should be no less than 12pt.
The judging criteria are set out below. Please tick only the key criteria relevant to your entry:
You must describe, in your written submission, how the criteria which you have ticked relate to your project.
Description of project
The project involves a professionally produced, full colour, highly illustrated easy to read Conservation Area Maintenance Guide for property owners within the historic core of Kilmarnock, the John Finnie Street and Bank Street Outstanding Conservation Area. The Conservation Area Maintenance Guide was a collaborative production developed through a working partnership and includes an Introduction explaining the importance of the Conservation Area; Do's and Don'ts of repairs and maintenance in Conservation Areas; a section on how to identify and deal with common defects; a section on how to organize repairs; and a detailed illustrated glossary. The guide comes in various formats including an A4 lever arch file hard copy, A5 summary leaflet, electronic copies on compact disc and memory stick, large print ring bound copies for the visually impaired, and translations to other languages are also available, ensuring it is accessible to all members of the community. |
Describe the background to the project
As part of the Kilmarnock Town Centre Regeneration Strategy and East Ayrshire Council's bid to Historic Scotland for funding to develop a Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme ( CARS) for the John Finnie Street and Bank Street Outstanding Conservation Area, surveys of the buildings within the Conservation Area were undertaken by Austin-Smith:Lord. These professional surveys identified poor maintenance and repair as one of the biggest threats to the town's historic fabric. Buildings are becoming older and require regular work, but traditional skills required for their upkeep can be difficult to find. As a result of the survey work the CARS bid included funding for the production of a maintenance guide and a maintenance programme. In April 2006 we were notified that our bid to Historic Scotland for funding for the CARS had been successful, we therefore tendered and entered into a contract with Austin-Smith:Lord for the production of the Conservation Area Maintenance Guide |
What are the aims and objectives of the project?
The Conservation Area Maintenance Guide aims to provide information, based on professional knowledge, to property owners on the importance of their building and the best and most economic way for them to maintain their properties. It is innovative as it seeks to explain in an accessible and non-technical manner the principal causes of decay, how they can be prevented, and where repairs are necessary how and when they should be carried out. The key objective behind the production of the maintenance guide is to tackle the threat to Kilmarnock's historic buildings caused by poor maintenance and repair, thereby, encouraging the regeneration of Kilmarnock's historic core and safeguarding Kilmarnock's built heritage for future generations. |
Over what timescale has the project been developed?
The initial professional survey work and CARS application was submitted to Historic Scotland in October 2005 including the proposal for a Conservation Area maintenance guide and maintenance programme. Historic Scotland's funding approval for the CARS was confirmed in April 2006, with the formal contract being issued in January 2007. The first draft of the maintenance guide was prepared by Austin-Smith:Lord in February 2007 and consultation with key partners on the contents was undertaken in March/April 2007 with the final typesetting, graphic design and production being completed by the end of April 2007. The Maintenance Guide was launched as part of the Public Launch of the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme on 30th May 2007, where it attracted considerable community interest and positive feedback. A series of workshops based on the Maintenance Guide are currently taking place. |
Explain the process and action taken
A detailed specification was prepared by the CARS Project Officer utilizing his professional knowledge and the "Homeworks Guide" produced by Edinburgh City Council and the publication "A Stitch in Time" prepared by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation in association with The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings as reference material. The tender was only issued to architectural practices experienced in the repair of historic buildings (accredited by the Royal Institute of Architects in Scotland - Level A). The appointed architects Austin-Smith:Lord initially produced a draft document and used this to consult with key partners including Historic Scotland's Technical Conservation, Research and Education Group, the Scottish Lime Centre, the Council's Planning and Building Standards Division, and property owners within the Kilmarnock Conservation Areas. This resulted in significant revisions, to ensure that whilst remaining a factual document it appears informal and interesting making good use of photographic material and annotated animations. |
Explain the role of the key partners
EAC Development Planning & Regeneration Section - development of the proposal & specification for the Conservation Area Maintenance Guide, and professional advice throughout its development. Austin Smith Lord - as the main contractor they provided conservation based specialist architectural advice throughout the production of the Conservation Area Maintenance Guide. Historic Scotland/Scottish Lime Centre -were key consultees, providing feedback on the initial draft document and photographs for inclusion in the document. Copyprint(Ayr) -were subcontracted to carryout the typesetting and graphic design, and worked closely with Austin-Smith:Lord and EAC to produce a high quality, full colour, document. Historic Scotland/East Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership - provided the funding to enable theproduction of the Conservation Area Maintenance Plan. |
What results were achieved?
The Conservation Area Maintenance Guide has provided information to all the property owners within the John Finnie Street and Bank Street Conservation Area on the importance of their building and the best and most economic way for them to maintain their properties. This has raised community interest in the regeneration of the area, increasing the property owners awareness and it has already assisted in convincing over 50 property owners to agree to a programme of maintenance and vegetation removal being carried out on their buildings. The maintenance guide has also encouraged over 15 property owners to contact the CARS Project Officer to seek grant assistance for building repairs through the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme. The maintenance guide is already starting to tackle the threat to Kilmarnock's historic buildings caused by poor maintenance and repair, safeguarding Kilmarnock's built heritage for future generations and facilitating its regeneration. |
In summary, why does this piece of work merit an Award?
The Kilmarnock Conservation Area Maintenance Guide has utilized the highest level of professional knowledge through EAC Development Planning & Regeneration staff working in partnership with RIAS conservation accredited architects, Austin-Smith:Lord, Historic Scotland's Technical Conservation, Research and Education Group and the Scottish Lime Centre. This has produced an extremely informative document that is innovative in its accessible and non-technical approach to providing guidance on the repair and maintenance of historic buildings. The document has helped to raised community interest in the conservation area and in a programme of building repair and maintenance, which will in turn encourage the regeneration of Kilmarnock's historic core as identified in the Kilmarnock Town Centre Regeneration Strategy. |
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