£200k project to preserve historic 'at-risk' buildings

HERITAGE SCHEME HAS SO FAR SEEN 100 VOLUNTEERS COMPLETE MORE THAN 1,000 GRADE II SITE SURVEYS

- By JOSEPH RICHARDS

A GRANT of £200,000 is set to fund a project aimed at protecting endangered heritage buildings in South Derbyshire.

The Derbyshire Historic Buildings Trust (DHBT) is extending its “Buildings at Risk” project to South Derbyshire after previous success in Amber Valley and Derby City thanks to a £207,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The project has seen more than 100 dedicated volunteers help to complete over 1,000 surveys of Grade II listed buildings, with the help of a new digital app.

Developed by the West Midlands Historic Buildings Trust with support from Historic England, the app uses a colour coding system to categorise buildings by their state of repair.

It allows volunteers to report structures that may need urgent attention, and the information will form an ongoing record, enabling DHBT to address risks early on and prioritise particularly vulnerable buildings alongside their local authority partners.