MP Wera Hobhouse recently met with the CEO of the Bath Preservation Trust, Alex Sherman, to discuss how the city can become more sustainable while protecting its heritage.
No 1 Royal Crescent is run by the Bath Preservation Trust | Photo © Bath Preservation Trust
The Bath Preservation Trust (BPT) campaigns for and promotes the conservation, sustainable enhancement and celebration of the historic built environment, green setting and global contributions of the City of Bath as a World Heritage Site.
Ms Hobhouse met with the CEO and his team to discuss how to balance the preservation of historic buildings with the need to make them more energy-efficient.
The conversation centred around the challenges that heritage buildings face when it comes to sustainability. They often have limited capacity for insulation and modern energy systems.
BPT highlighted some of the initiatives they have undertaken to make their buildings more sustainable, including the use of solar panels that have little effect on the historic visuals of buildings.
They discussed the challenges they faced in implementing these initiatives and the importance of funding for such projects.
Ms Hobhouse pledged her support for BPT’s efforts and said she would continue to work towards finding solutions to make heritage buildings more sustainable.
Both parties also agreed the Government has a responsibility to provide more support to homeowners if the UK is to achieve net zero targets.
Wera Hobhouse commented: “Outside of the City of London, Bath has more listed buildings than any other English City.
“This poses a unique challenge to our community when it comes to supporting the shift to greener homes.
“I am proud to see the Bath Preservation Trust protecting the character and charm of our heritage buildings while making them sustainable and fit for the future.
“It was a pleasure to meet with Alex Sherman to discuss such an important task our local community faces.”
“The Conservative Government should learn from the Trust’s example. They must commit to more support for homeowners so that the UK can achieve its Environmental targets.”
Alex Sherman, CEO of Bath Preservation Trust, said: “It was great to meet with Wera to discuss our work to make BPT net zero carbon but also to share how we are supporting historic homeowners to retrofit their homes throughout the city.
“As vice-Chair of the Climate Change APPG, Wera was keen to find out more about practical examples of good practice locally to inform her discussions in Westminster.”
“We discussed some of the barriers homeowners face when retrofitting listed buildings and how they might be removed, including better information about options, removing fees for Listed Building Consents, providing more training for trades and making all energy efficiency improvements free of VAT.
“We agreed that the Government has a responsibility to provide more support to all homeowners if the UK is to achieve its target of having net zero carbon emissions.”
