Aimée L Felton 2012

22 on owners and inclusiveness within the definition of heritage.Whilst the main objectives remain the same, the approach to adaptive re-use has remained cautious, aiming to avoid an increase in windfall profits from demolition and irreversible actions led by underlying current social attitudes, priorities and perceptions in order to consider posterity and the existing body of knowledge and evidence embedded within the historic fabric for future generations. Overzealous conservationor preservationof historic buildings provides adanger of the many buildings, cities and urban environments losing their vitality, with the equilibrium between development and conservation becoming unbalanced. Throughout history, all buildings have undergone cycles of alteration and change with new owners, passing fashions and constantly changing views and opinions regarding the appropriate treatment for historic buildings all adding to the contextual layering of history and cultural significance to the fabric. Since the introduction of listing buildings in the austere post war Labour government in 1950 (EH. 2010:p5), the safeguards protecting the future generations, although not meant to harbour change, have necessarily made alterations and adaptations more difficult to justify, whilst trying to preserve architectural, historic and cultural integrity. Without change, it is likely that the many historic buildings and structures across the UK would become fossils in the landscape (CRfLA. 2008:p11), irrelevant for activity and use by the current generation, as well as financial burdens to the owners, whether private individuals or corporate organisations. These buildings run the risk of losing their ingrained cultural significance through deterioration and redundancy. Two•Four Managing Change TWO Chapter Two - Context Aimee Felton