Designation of Palacerigg Visitor Centre as Listed Building
North Lanarkshire Council · 8 December 2022
Back to Planning Committee — 8 December 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
North Lanarkshire Council Report Planning Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref PW/GL Date 08/12/22 Designation of Palacerigg Visitor Centre as Listed Building From Planning and Place Manager E-mail Bowden@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01236 632500 1. Background 1.1 Historic Environment Scotland (HES) received a proposal to designate the Scottish Wildlife mural by Alasdair Gray located in the foyer of the Palacerigg Visitor Centre on 06/01/2020. HES visited the Palacerigg Visitor Centre on 01/09/2021 and saw the exterior and interior of the building. 1.2 HES has found that the building meets the criteria for listing because of the significance of the mural. HES carried out an assessment using the selection guidance to decide whether a site or place is of special architectural or historic interest. Executive Summary This report is intended for members to note that Historic Environment Scotland has decided to designate the Palacerigg Visitor Centre with mural by Alasdair Gray, Palacerigg Country Park, Cumbernauld G67 3HU as a Category B Listed building. The protected status of the structure came into effect from 05/10/2022 under Section 1of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 Recommendations It is recommended that members note the above. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Choose an item. Ambition statement Choose an item.
Page 2
2. Report 2.1 The following is an extract from the detailed listing description:- Statement of Special Interest 2.2 ‘Scottish Wildlife Mural’ was restored by Gray in 2001 and the text panels likely added at this time. The addition of the text panels in Gray’s distinctive typography, which reflect the influences of the work and the inseparable nature of his artistic and literary interests, increases the design interest of the mural. The fact that the restoration of the mural was carried out by Gray himself gives the work a high degree of authenticity. 2.3 The Palacerigg Visitor Centre with the ‘Scottish Wildlife Mural’ by Alasdair Gray meets the criteria of special architectural or historic interest for the following reasons: • Because the building includes a major example of a later 20th century public mural. • The mural is an important surviving example of the visual art of Alasdair Gray that depicts themes and motifs commonly found in his work. • The mural has a high level of authenticity having been restored by the artist Alasdair Gray in 2001. • The immediate and wider country park setting of the building is substantially unaltered and contributes to our understanding of the mural’s conservationist theme. • For its close historical association with artist and writer Alasdair Gray, a cultural figure of national importance. 2.4 The Council had expressed concerns to HES regarding the listing of the building as a whole as a means of protecting the mural primarily as it was felt this may have an impact on the upkeep and any future renovations of the building itself (which is subject to current interest in terms of a community buyout). Going forward it will be for the Council to assess whether any changes to the building have an impact on the special interest in this case – the mural. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The mural is retained for future generations to enjoy. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Letter from Historic Environment Scotland dated 06.10.22. Name: Pamela Humphries Title: Head of Planning and Regeneration
Page 3
5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality-and-fairer- scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Financial Solutions? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People and Organisational Development? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic Solutions? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact?
Page 4
Where the impact identifies a requirement for technology, has an assessment been carried out (or scheduled) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed?