Have your say

We asked

From 11 April to 18 May 2023, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) asked for comments and information on Livingston ‘Livi’ Skatepark to help inform our assessment of the skatepark for listing.

A building may become listed if it is of special architectural and historic interest. Our selection guidance for designation and the policies we work to are published in the Designations Policy and Selection Guidance document. 

This is the first time we have been asked to list a skatepark, and we were keen to hear from people who know and use Livi Skatepark, and/or have a view on its design, history and significance. 

You said

We are delighted to have received 557 responses to our online survey.

We did

We will now work to analyse these responses, together with the feedback we received when we visited the skatepark in April.

Our next steps will be to compile a report on our findings, which we will publish online. If we consider that the skatepark meets the criteria for listing, we will consult with West Lothian Council as the owners and local authority before making a decision.

Skateboard Scotland, the official governing body for skateboarding, helped to shape this survey. Where we have consent from participants, we will forward responses to them for their interest.

We asked

From 20 April to 11 May 2023, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) sought views on our proposal to designate the remnant of the Gulliver Sculpture in Edinburgh at category C.  

The left foot of the Gulliver Sculpture is among the last remains of an enormous concrete human figure play sculpture, conceived and completed between 1976 and 1978 for the Craigmillar Festival Society. Gulliver was largely demolished in 2011. It is an important example of community-led public art in Scotland and a rare surviving marker of the work of the influential grass-roots regeneration initiative known as the Craigmillar Festival Society (1962-2002). 

You said

We received no responses to the Citizen Space consultation.  

Following direct consultation to interested parties, we received comments from The Twentieth Century Society and Docomomo Scotland. Both were in favour of listing.

The Twentieth Century Society noted their previous application to list, and made the following points:

• The Craigmillar Festival Society was one of the most significant community-led regeneration schemes of its time.
• Designed by Jimmy Boyle, later a sculptor and author, Gulliver was constructed under the Festival’s job creation scheme.
• It has both historic and cultural significance as a physical symbol of this important period of community action.
• Despite its denuded state, the sculpture still retains its significance as testament of the importance of the community in Craigmillar, and as a result is of national importance.
• Retention will help to tell the story of the sculpture from a widely used play structure to a neglected, and then almost lost, monument.

Docomomo Scotland commented that the remnant of the sculpture was ‘A rare reminder of the Craigmillar Festival Society and its work.’

The local authority had no substantive comments. They noted no issues regarding the proposed listing from a planning perspective, and no relevant development proposals affecting the site.

We did

We have now listed the remnant of the sculpture at category C. The listed building records are available on our Heritage Portal, where the final Report of Handling is also available.     

Our historic environment is always changing. Listing does not prevent change, but it does allow for a structure’s special character to be taken into account when changes are proposed.  

We asked

From 9 February to 2 March 2023, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) sought views on our proposal to designate Stobs Camp and associated sites as scheduled monuments.

The sites are nationally important monuments that were found to meet our criteria for designation. Stobs Camp is a site that makes a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the military heritage of Scotland, in particular the history of early 20th century military training and First World War internment and imprisonment.

Further details can be accessed on our Heritage Portal: Stobs Camp - Portal.

You said

We received 87 responses which contributed to our knowledge of the monument and also provided insight into how the Camp and associated sites are valued.

An overwhelming majority of the responses were in favour of designating Stobs Camp as a scheduled monument. The following table is a brief summary of the survey results, with focus on the key three questions related to our assessment of the site using the selection guidance for scheduled monuments to decide whether the sites were of national importance.

We received additional comments, the overwhelming majority were supportive of the proposal and recognising the importance of the Camp. The Report on Handling on our Heritage Portal (linked above) provides the responses where a query was raised, along with our answers and information. Some comments from respondents did not raise a query but offered their insight and opinion. Some of these comments include:

•  "The site is not only of national but also of international significance; possibly the best preserved WWI POW camp in the world."
• "Have visited the site and feel it is an important reminder of history of the area."
•  "Stobs is unique as a record of Scotland’s contribution to two world wars. It has a completeness that needs to be preserved and more widely shared."
• "Comprehensive and accurate account of Stobs Camp."
• "The site is of huge historic significance. Many thousands of troops trained here and they also contributed to the economy of Hawick."
• "It should be scheduled because of its historical significance and state  of preservation."
• "The report shows how the remains of the camp make Stobs a rare survival among military sites."
• "I was impressed at the work already done to investigate and preserve.  I feel that scheduling the site will help to consolidate the (largely) voluntary effort already undertaken on the ground."
• "The camp is of great importance to descendants of internees." 

We did

After considering the comments received during the consultation, we have now scheduled Stobs Camp and associated sites as nationally important monuments.

Download the Report of Handling from our Heritage Portal: Stobs Camp - Designation.