Jane Davies, the City Council’s Conservation Officer gave a talk, illustrated with slides, on why it is worth conserving the Conservation Area. She showed the deleterious effect on the estate of someone “doing their own thing” to their house. Sometimes, people want large extensions that are out of scale with the original development, although careful design may make them acceptable. One of her horrors is repointing. Often repointing is unnecessary and with unsuitable mortar can lead to damage to the bricks.
Several members of the audience were greatly concerned about their metal windows. The original windows now cause a lot of problems and are in urgent need of replacement. Similar windows even if desirable, would be prohibitively expensive. But they cannot get planning permission for anything else. Jane Davies pointed the way forwards. The HCERA Committee is setting up a working party to investigate the problem. This could lead to the Association recommending to the City Council that the Design Guidance for the Conservation Area be amended.