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Heritage groups are facing a crisis in the preservation of some of the region鈥檚 most important historic buildings, according to renowned architect and historian Jeremy Gould.

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The greater South West region has more than 2,000 sites on the English Heritage听'At Risk'听register but this year there is less than 拢2 million available in English Heritage grants for restoration projects.

鈥淲e urgently need to find a way to prioritise which projects we support,鈥� says Jeremy Gould.

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鈥淭he South West has some of the country鈥檚 most important heritage buildings, but there isn鈥檛 the money to preserve them all. We need to take some tough decisions.鈥�

Jeremy cites the end use of a project as a vital factor in determining whether a building should be restored.

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鈥淗eritage bodies simply won鈥檛 hand out thousands of pounds to restore a project if, a few months down the line, the begging bowl is going to come out again. There has to be a viable end use so that, once restored, the building can earn its keep.鈥�

In Restoring England鈥檚 Heritage, Jeremy looks at some of the projects that English Heritage has earmarked as priorities for the region.

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The New Palace Theatre, in Plymouth鈥檚 Union Street, Naval Barracks at Rame in Cornwall and Poltimore House near Exeter are all buildings in a bad state of repair and the programme questions whether an effective end use can ever be found for any of these sites.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e all, unquestionably, important buildings with rich histories but they need millions spent on them and that money just isn鈥檛 there. It could take years to raise the money that鈥檚 needed and, in that time, the repair costs will have gone even higher.鈥�

The programme compares these sites with the newly-restored Porthmeor Studios in St Ives, Cornwall. Locals there had to make听eight different funding applications to raise the money needed for the project 鈥� and they backed their application with a clear vision for the future use of the site.

鈥淚t shows the importance of people power,鈥� says Jeremy, 鈥渁nd behind every successful project is a passionate, determined group of people. The success of those projects, which are currently struggling, will undoubtedly depend on the energy and ingenuity of the various campaign groups trying to save them.鈥澨�听