Overwhelming Support for the Historic Environment 29/9/2000 The great majority of people in the UK believe that public funds should be used to preserve historic buildings. Three-quarters agree that it is important to preserve the best modern buildings as well as the old. These are some of the findings of a recent MORI survey, commissioned by English Heritage, which reveals for the first time what 'heritage' means to all sectors of society. The research was commissioned by English Heritage as part of a comprehensive review of government policies for the historic environment. This report will be presented to the Government at the end of November. Key points to emerge from the MORI survey are: 98% think the heritage is important to educate children about the past and that all schoolchildren should be given the opportunity to find out about England's heritage 96% think the heritage is important to educate adults about the past 95% think heritage is important for providing places to visit and thing to see and do, for encouraging tourists to visit, (93%), and for creating jobs and boosting the economy, (88%) 88% agree that it is right that there should be public funding to preserve the heritage 76% disagree that we already preserve too much 76% agree that their lives are enriched by the heritage 46% think that Black and 45% think that Asian heritage is not adequately represented For some people, particularly from ethnic minority groups, England's country houses and ancient monuments mean little. They want more to be done to make England's historic environment accessible to them through information, more inclusive interpretation and education. It emerged from the poll that everyone has a very personal view of what represents their heritage, and that most people value both nationally important attractions and key elements of their own localities. Only 2% said they had no interest in the heritage whatsoever. The 14% who had not visited any historic sites in the last year cited lack of time and interest and feeling unwelcome. The research pointed up a need to raise awareness of the role of local streets and buildings as well as nationally important buildings and monuments in creating a high quality environment and promoting economic and social regeneration in towns and cities and in the countryside. The poll indicates that the nation's assumed traditional dislike of modern architecture no longer exists. Most people disagreed with the statement that anything after 1950 does not count as heritage and felt it important to preserve modern buildings for future generations. Support for modern architecture has undergone an astonishing 10 percentage points rise to 76% since an English Heritage/MORI poll on this subject in 1997. The report shows that 51% of the population have made special trips to historic palaces, houses, gardens, castles and monuments in the last year. The figure rises to 58% if museums are included. According to Sir Neil Cossons, Chairman of English Heritage, “We are delighted by the overwhelming support for the historic environment that this research reveals. There is a strong feeling, perhaps a moral obligation people feel, that heritage should be preserved to be passed on to future generations. Most encouraging was to discover that, above all, people think the heritage is important to education." The research was conducted in May-June 2000 and involved four distinct approaches: Omnibus survey research among residents in England