Birmingham’s Conservation Department cutbacks and closure still a threat

• Apr. 20 by Rachel Trinder (3)

Birmingham City Council’s Conservation Department is facing considerable cutbacks and is under possible closure in the not so distant future.

The possible closure of the department and the definite closure of the department’s Conservation Group was prompted by its chairman, Chris Hargreaves, retirement and the need to cut £1.2 million from the Council’s planning department budget.

The fate of the department and its threat of disbandment were factored in during the Council’s annual budget reviews during February this year and isn’t the only department to under-go weighty cutbacks during these recession fueled times.

If the department were disbanded then the Council would be saving £350, 000, helping to contribute heavily towards the money needed to be saved to make a saving of £1.2 million.

The result would see the Conservation Department’s conservation officers put to work in the planning department meaning a major re-shuffle of staff and a loss of time for the highly trained people who would no longer be dealing with conservation issues.

The Council’s 1999 ‘Regeneration Through Conservation’ strategy is a document they still work from and use to outline their conservation work on their website.

The strategy’s main outline is:

‘To enrich the environment, define our local history and add uniqueness and interest in the face of homogenising impact of so much modern development.’

Then according to a ‘Conservation Strategy Review’ in 2004 the initial strategy was going well and significant changes in the city’s conservation and prioritization of specific conservation projects were going well.

The review even outlined the Birmingham Conservation Trust to have received £600, 000 in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund in order to restore the ‘back to back’ houses found in Hurst Street.

Now cutbacks are being made and many conservation projects face never getting underway, with some current and ongoing projects like the regeneration happening in The Jewellery Quarter, not looking to be completed anytime soon.

Why the changes are being made

When contacted about why the decisions in cutbacks and possible closure were being made, Birmingham City Council’s Corporate Information Governance Team said:

‘Because of the economic recession there has been a fall in out planning application fee income which has, in turn, resulted in a reduction in the budget of the Planning Management Division.

As a consequence, a restructuring of the division is being undertaken, to reflect our reduced budget’.

The Governance Team confirmed that cost savings and the possible disbanding of the Conservation Department had indeed been discussed in February’s budget report but no decisions had been made on the outlined cutbacks or possible restructuring as of yet.

They added:

‘Restructuring relies on full consultation with staff and unions however we would intend to retain the necessary expertise to carry out the department’s statutory duties dealing with listed buildings, conservation area developments and protected trees.’

As to whether conservation officer’s expertises will be wasted if a restructure occurs is yet to be seen however the Council seem confident that they won’t.

To sign the online petition to save the Conservation Department click here

For a look at the department’s estimated yearly budget see the infographic below.