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From 11 June 2026 to 2 July 2026, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) sought views on a proposal to list the former Gothenburg Public House at 2-8 Main Street in Kelty, which was built in 1899-1900.

The building operated on the model of the Gothenburg Public House System, a method of controlling the consumption of spirits which had originated in the 1860s in Gothenburg, Sweden. The system saw alcohol licenses restricted to approved retailers and the profits were reinvested into the community to provide educational and recreational facilities. Gothenburg pubs, or ‘Goths’, became popular in mining areas in central Scotland at the turn of the 19^th century, especially in Fife and the Lothians.

Kelty Gothenburg Public House opened in 1900 and is one of the earliest surviving ‘Goth’ pubs in Scotland. Externally the building retains much of its early 20th century character and remains a prominent focal point within the streetscape of the town.  

Through Citizen Space, we invited members of the public to tell us if they agreed with the proposed designation to list the building at category C and if they had further comments to make.  

We consulted directly with Fife Council as the planning authority.  

Our selection guidance for designation and the policies we work to are published in the Designations Policy and Selection Guidance document.  

We received no responses to the consultation and no issues were raised that brought into question the cultural significance of the site for designation. 

We have listed the building at category C (listed building ref: LB52685).  

We have published a Report on Handling for this case on the Heritage Portal. This can also be downloaded below:

• Report of Handling - Decision (PDF, 284KB)

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) asked for your views on the current Historic Environment Policy for Scotland (HEPS) to inform an update to this national policy.  

HEPS is relevant whenever a decision will affect the historic environment. It can be used to inform policies, strategies and guidance as well as for decision making for places and in the planning system.  

We asked for feedback on how the current document is used and key areas of improvement. 

Four clear priorities emerged: 

• Clarify the role of HEPS in decision making 
• Strengthen the links between the policy document and how to implement it 
• Improve accessibility, in terms of navigating the document and highlighting the key messages 
• Better reflect contemporary challenges to the historic environment 

Other feedback included:

• Amongst those who use HEPS, it is regarded as  a foundational framework for decision-making which is best exercised through other policy and guidance. 
• Respondents suggested that for decision-making they rely on NPF4, Managing Change guidance and Local Development Plans alongside HEPS.  
• Most respondents indicated no significant barriers to their use of HEPS. Those who raised concerns focused overwhelmingly on the status, role and practical purpose of HEPS within the planning system and its relationship with NPF4.  
• Respondents found HEP1 and HEP4 to be the most useful policies to their work.  
• There was limited appetite for major new policy content within an updated HEPS.  
• For both the “Understanding & Recognition” and “Managing Change” sections respondents were supportive of the principles. They requested more practical guidance for implementation, and an explanation of cultural significance.  
• The “Working Together” section generated the strongest calls for improvement. Respondents want a clearer explanation of how collaborative working should happen in practice and a greater recognition of the climate and nature crisis. 

General changes 

• Improving clarity and accessibility of the document through simplifying language and structure 
• Embedding considerations for the climate and nature crises and centring access and people’s interactions with the historic environment throughout the document 
• Expanded the introduction to make the purpose of HEPS clearer 
• Made wording changes to policies to make them more clear and linked to implementation. 

Understanding significance and value (previously “Understanding & recognition”) 

• Refined into 4 targeted principles 
• Reorganised information under 3 headings; understand the place, understand cultural significance and understanding value 
• Have added definition and information about cultural significance 

People and places (previously “Working together”) 

• Moved this section to second in the document as this provides key considerations for decision making, before the process of managing change to the historic environment. 
• Reorganised information under 3 headings; recognising the relationship, considering the long-term, working together 
• Brought in key concepts from the Talking About Heritage report into this section including centring the access and experience of the historic environment. 
• Centred principles more around decision making for the historic environment 

Managing change 

• Refined into 3 targeted principles 
• Brought definition of impact into this section rather than glossary 
• Focussed this section on the approach that should be undertaken to implement this policy 

From 5 March to 26 April 2026, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) sought views on a proposal to list Cranhill Water Tower in Glasgow.

Cranhill Water Tower, located at the eastern edge of Cranhill housing estate, was built in 1951 and designed by Frank A Macdonald and Partners for Glasgow Corporation. Cranhill Water Tower is the earliest known post-war water tower to survive in Glasgow and is a major example from the unrivalled programme of reinforced concrete water tower construction in Glasgow and its environs during the 1950s and 60s.

Through Citizen Space, we invited members of the public to tell us if they agreed with the proposed designation and if they had further comments to make.

We consulted directly with Glasgow City Council as the planning authority and the owners, Scottish Water. We also consulted with the Ward 18 councillors and Cranhill Community Council.

Our selection guidance for designation and the policies we work to are published in the Designations Policy and Selection Guidance document.  

We received a total of 111 responses to the consultation, including two written responses and 109 responses via our Citizen Space survey. There were 59 detailed responses to our online survey.

Of the 109 Citizen Space responses, 89 ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘slightly agreed’ with the proposal to list and 20 ‘strongly disagreed’ or ‘slightly disagreed’ with the proposal to list.

We received one written response from the owners in which they asked us to reconsider the category of listing and to formally exclude the Neptune sculptures at the base of the water tower. We received a second written response from two Ward 18 councillors who objected to the proposed listing and noted concerns that listing the tower would prevent development of the area.

Several comments in favour of listing commended the structure an iconic structure and a landmark in the area. We received a number of comments from members of the public who stated that they lived locally to the water tower and said they felt the structure was part of the community and the historic identity of the area. Some comments noted the interest of its design and how it has fallen into disrepair over the years.

Responses against listing noted that the structure had little architectural merit and considered it was an eyesore. There was a range of comments related to the tower’s condition and economic factors related to future development. Some considered that listing would make maintenance of the tower more difficult.

We have considered the comments made to us at consultation and our view remains that Cranhill water tower meets the criteria for listing. We have, however, added a statutory exclusion to legally exclude artist Andy Scott’s Neptune Project sculptures found at the base of the tower from the listing. We have designated the water tower at category B as Cranhill Water Tower excluding the Neptune Project sculptures at base, Skerryvore Road, Glasgow. You can view the listed building record on our Portal.

We have also published a report that summarises our online consultation survey and shows the responses in full where we have the necessary permissions.

All of the relevant reports can be downloaded on our Portal and below:

• Report of Handling
• Listing Map
• Online Consultation Survey Report