Annual Review to 31St January 2014
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Annual Review 1 February 2013 – 31 January 2014 Bath Preservation Trust Limited Contents Registered Office No. 1 Royal Crescent, Bath, BA1 2LR Charity Registered No 203048, Company Registered No 294789 Chairman’s Report 2 Tel No +44 (0)1225 338727 www.bath-preservation-trust.org.uk Chief Executive’s report 3 Architecture and Planning Committee 4 Patron His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales KG Environs Sub-Committee 14 President Michael Briggs BPT Archives 14 Vice-Presidents Adam Fergusson The Whole Story Project 15 Dame Jennifer Jenkins The Rt Hon. The Lord Patten of Barnes CH Bath Preservation Trust Museums 19 Chairman of the Trustees Edward Bayntun-Coward No. 1 Royal Crescent 19 Building of Bath Collection 24 Trustees Jane Brown Jacqueline Burrows (resigned December 2013) Education at The Trust’s Museums 26 David Beeton (retired June 2013) Robert Hellard Beckford’s Tower 27 Alan Langton (resigned July 2013) Celia Mead Herschel Museum of Astronomy 30 Giles Mercer (resigned January 2014) Membership Working Group 32 Simon Morray-Jones Bill Otley World Heritage Enhancement Fund 36 Andrew Pitt Cathryn Spence Summary Financial Information for the Adrian Tinniswood Year Ended 31 January 2014 38 Mark Wilson-Jones Members as at 31 January 2014 43 Chief Executive Caroline Kay Legal Advisors Stone King LLP, Bath Bankers Cafbank Ltd, Kent Coutts & Co, London Lloyds, Bath Handelsbanken, Bath Auditors Bishop Fleming, Bristol Financial Advisers Quilter, Bristol Legal Status Company limited by guarantee governed by the provisions in its Articles of Association. 1 Chairman’s Report Chief Executive’s Report Endings and beginnings are on my mind as I write Unlike the course of true love, the redevelopment this introduction. Our major project for the redevel- of No. 1 Royal Crescent ran, in retrospect, pretty opment of No. 1 Royal Crescent has come to an end: smoothly; and it was fitting that the dream which but of course it represents a marvellous new had lived with the Trust for 7 years finally reached beginning for the Museum in its extended home, fruition on Midsummer’s Day. The reopening events meaning that we are welcoming more visitors than and the subsequent party provided us with two ever before and rocketing up the TripAdvisor ratings happy occasions to celebrate with those who had with 92% of reviews at 4 or 5 star. made the project happen. This report is therefore my opportunity to thank We are now almost used to our splendid new my fellow trustees; the staff; the donors, especially museum, and it has given the organisation confidence the Brownsword Charitable Foundation; and the for looking at an overall strategy for all of our external team who worked on the project and made museums and our visitor experience. A partnership it happen. Fortunately most of the staff team are project between ourselves and the Holburne and the staying with us; but I should like to pay special American Museum received a major Arts Council tribute to Nicola Watt, the project manager, who grant in 2013 and runs for 2 years; and ‘partnership’ kept a complex project on the road, on time and seems to be the way forward on a number of other under budget with consummate skill. projects including an HLF landscape bid where the A number of Trustees have moved on since Trust is one of a number of organisations, as well as the re-opening. David Beeton stepped down in June 2013, having made an enormous our established partnerships with the Council for the World Heritage Site Enhancement contribution first to the restructuring of the Trust when I took on the Chairmanship Fund and Bath Green Homes. and then as Chairman of the Museums and Education Committee. Jacqueline Burrows This is not to suggest we are in any way losing our independent identity. The Trust stepped down to go on a New Zealand adventure in December 2013; her contribution continued to play a significant role in the Core Strategy examination hearings, standing in particular to the Trust’s communications has been invaluable. Giles Mercer served up for Bath’s Green Belt and World Heritage Site setting when many others, including the on the Project Board as well as bringing his educational expertise to the Museums Council and English Heritage, seemed prepared to surrender some of it to development: and Education Committee: he stepped down in January. I thank them all. we await the final outcome on this. We continue to be a key independent stakeholder in Finally, as I write this in May, I should like to pay tribute to Trust member and pillar consultations on the MOD sites, the Rec, flood defences and other major Bath projects. of Bath society, Brian Roper, who has died recently. Brian was a passionate believer in We also play our part in the details; ours was one intervention in an enforcement appeal giving back to the community, and he and his wife did so enormously generously through which has resulted in a housing development wrongly built in reconstituted stone having their family trust which gave a proportion of his company profits to good causes. He was to be refaced in natural Bath stone, as is proper for the conservation area and World always keen to persuade other businesses in Bath to do the same. We salute his leadership. Heritage Site. Every departure is an ending, but also chance for new beginnings. With No. 1 While we will not always represent the opinions of every member (not least complete, we will be able to look with more energy at the future development of our because our membership is a diverse body whose common identity is simply a love smaller museums. Throughout the project, the Trust never dropped its focus on planning for Bath) they are often our eyes and ears in what is going on around the City. We are matters but as the Core Strategy process comes to an end and Bath enters a significant always keen to hear members’ views, whether face to face, in writing, by email, phase of development, we intend to be even more at the forefront of discussions into or through the growing social media of Twitter (where we have over 1000 followers) this new era. I anticipate that there may be more changes in the year ahead as well; and Facebook. So please keep it coming! but we are confident that the Trust is in good shape, and that we are a club of which people are proud to be members. Caroline Kay Edward Bayntun-Coward 2 3 areas being planned for in detail appear to be the Local Enterprise Area in Bath’s Architecture and Planning Committee river corridor, where a multiplicity of office accommodation and other uses is pro- posed: this is at an early stage of development. Jane Brown, Chair In June 2013 the Trust participated in a stakeholder forum looking at the possibility Joanna Robinson, Conservation Officer of Bath putting forward a Landscape Partnership bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund. Emma Lawerence, Conservation Officer This is a major funding strand (making grants between £100,000 and £3m) and a bid Helen Braine, Architecture and Planning Intern for a landscape partnership project in Bath’s green setting is now being developed for submission in May 2014. The Trust is represented on the interim partnership board The Draft Core Strategy and Local Plan continued to be a major focus of attention at taking this forward. key points during the year. In March, the Council issued their latest draft of the spatial The Trust continued to be a member of the World Heritage Site Steering Group, and housing plan for the district. As suspected, this included a number of Green Belt now under the chairmanship of Peter Metcalfe, as well as being invited to participate development areas, including two on the edge of the World Heritage Site Boundary at in numerous ‘stakeholder consultations’. Southstoke Plateau and Weston. In each case these areas are also in the Cotswold Area It was successful year for Bath Green Homes in which the Trust is in partnership with of Outstanding Natural Beauty and have a number of natural environment protections; Transition Bath and the Council. The Project involved over 1000 people through two at Southstoke there is the added programmes of events aimed at helping people to make their homes warmer, greener presence of the Wansdyke, and cheaper to run. In spring we had the second Open Homes Weekend which was a huge a scheduled Ancient Monument. success; more than 500 people made over 900 visits to the 19 homes, including traditional The Trust submitted detailed and listed buildings, that opened their doors to the public. This was made possible by an documents to the consultation army of 70+ volunteers, including BPT members, phase which followed voicing who helped steward and publicise the events. We are now looking ahead to 2014 and, our views that these areas should subject to receiving sponsorship, hoping to plan our next Open Homes Weekend and continue to enjoy protection from complementary programme of events for September. development. The associated Examination in Public resumed for two sessions in Development in Bath September and December 2013 with hearings focusing on the assessed Bath Rugby started consulting on market need for housing. As a result of changes to the draft Core Strategy published by specific proposals for theRecreation the Council in October, it became apparent that the Council’s proposed housing numbers Ground (‘Rec’) in 2013 following (necessitating these encroachments on the Green Belt) actually exceeded their calcula- agreement by the Charity Commission tion of market need, because they could not achieve the desired number of affordable to the Scheme which would legitimise houses unless they permitted developers to build larger numbers of market houses.