What a different just four months makes.

It was only in May, ahead of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, that UK Premier David Cameron was urging all British Overseas Territories or Crown Dependencies to ‘get our own house in order’ over tax transparency.

Then last week, having returned from another summit of world leaders, this time at the G20 in Russia, Cameron told MPs that he did not think it fair any longer to refer to any of these offshore centres as tax havens.

His view, however, is not one shared by France which earlier this month placed Jersey, British Virgin Islands and Bermuda on its list of unco-operative states for tax purposes.

It’s all a far cry from the height of the global financial crisis in 2008 when Labour’s little lamented Prime Minister Gordon Brown said there was a need to look again at the relationship between the Isle of Man and Britain – echoing the words of his Chancellor Alistair Darling who described us as ‘a tax haven sitting in the Irish Sea’.

In truth, as Manx government ministers have been keen to point out, the Isle of Man has been leading the field for 15 years when it comes to sharing tax information with other countries.

It’s a policy that ensured we avoided blacklisting by the OECD and has finally got us into the good books of UK Treasury.

It could be argued that we’ve moved too fast, too soon.

Treasury Minister Eddie Teare disagrees: ‘Far from it. We have always been pragmatic. You can’t just say “you can’t do that to us”. We have engaged with the international community. We’ve got brownie points for doing that. The UK government and international organisations realise that we’ve been realistic and reasonable.’

The Manx government signed its first Tax Information Exchange Agreement in 2002 and we now have some 30 such agreements, in force or awaiting ratification, with countries including Argentina, China, India and Switzerland, together with about a dozen double taxation agreements.

Two more TIEAS will be signed this week, with Italy and sub-Saharan Lesotho, the latter the second agreement signed with an African country (the first being Botswana). This is significant as critics claim tax havens are used to siphon money off developing countries.

It was the number of such agreements that enabled the island to be placed in 2009 on the OECD’s white list of co-operative financial jurisdictions.

That same year, at the OECD Forum in Paris, Allan Bell, then Treasury Minister, announced we were to go much further and introduce a major new policy of automatic exchange of tax information with the EU as from July 1, 2011 - one of the first small jurisdictions to do so.

Last year the Manx government announced it was negotiating with the US to implement its Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and was committed to become the first nation to sign a FATCA-style deal with the UK.

Mr Teare said: ‘I’m on standby to sign both - hopefully within the next month.’

Under these FATCA arrangements, which is likely to become a global standard, automatic exchange will cover not just personal bank accounts as before but details of all account holders, including those whose identities might otherwise be hidden by trusts or companies.

The government last month confirmed its intention to join a multilateral convention, enabling tax information exchange to be extended to developing countries.

An action plan is also being produced on company secrecy, which is likely to be the new frontline in the international debate on tax transparency.

The UK government advocates the setting up of a central public register of beneficial ownership.

But Mr Teare said our legislation in this area is already ahead of many countries including the UK, with laws in place for 10 years to ensure details of true ownership and control of every company, trust and fund are made available to tax and law enforcement agencies.

He said: ‘A central register is not going to deliver what they expect. It will be out of date whereas our system is constantly updated. Placing people’s personal details on public display could leave some open to terrorism and blackmail. I don’t think that’s right at all.’

The Isle of Man Government has no plans to follow the Bank of England’s trial introduction of new plastic notes.

The Bank of England has begun a two month public consultation on the move and expects to make a final decision in December.

The bank has cited facts in favour of the note, such as, the plastic notes are harder to counterfeit, more durable, more environmentally friendly and cheaper.

Treasury Minister Eddie Teare MHK said: ‘Since we introduced the plastic £1 notes in 1983, technology has moved on and the new type of material is, I understand, more robust.

‘We are watching the proposal with interest, especially as this new material appears to have been adopted by a number of countries and seems to function well.

‘Creating new designs of bank notes is very expensive and we would only do so when a need arose. In the meantime we will keep a watching brief.’

If adopted, the first English plastic note would be the £5 featuring Sir Winston Churchill, which could be in circulation by early 2016, followed shortly by a Jane Austen design on the £10 note.

The only plastic note in the Isle of Man is the £1 note, which will cease to be legal tender on October 31. They stopped being produced in 1988. Manx plastic pounds currently sell for a lot more than £1 on eBay.

Australia introduced polymer notes in 1988, and more than 20 countries have since made the switch, including New Zealand and Canada.

Firefighters tackled a fire in a barn on Saturday.

At 12.44pm two pumping appliances from Douglas were sent to a report of a fire in Braaid.

Five large hay bales, stored in the barn, were alight. A jet and hose reel was used to fight the fire and dampen down.

The owner of the property was able to separate the bales involved using a tractor.

There was no damage caused to the structure of the barn.

Crews were on scene for more than an hour damping down and making the scene safe.

The cause of the fire was radiated heat from halogen lighting sited close to the stored bales.

Police are appealing for witnesses to an unprovoked assault which occurred outside the British pub on Saturday night, just before midnight.

The victim was stood near the pub on Douglas quay when he was approached by a group of males and punched on the side of his head.

One of the males responsible is described as being around 18 years of age, wearing a black t-shirt and dark coloured tracksuit bottoms.

The group then ran off before police officers arrived.

PC Dave Kneen is investigating the matter and anyone with information should contact Lord Street Police Station on 631212.

TT 2013 saw huge growth in viewing figures, latest statistics show.

TT press officer Simon Crellin said television, radio and print media coverage as well as the online audience saw ‘double digit growth’ compared with 2012.

Department of Economic Development political member Laurence Skelly MHK said: ‘The TT Races now provide a real profile and platform for the Isle of Man worldwide as well as generating visitors to the island.’

ITV4 said North One TV shows generated almost a million more viewers than 2012, with an audience of more than 6m.

Monster Energy Supersport 1 had an average audience of 684,000 and a peak of 725,000.

Next day highlights programmes were screened in the USA.

North One TV chief executive Neil Duncanson said: ‘The TT Races is now one of ITV’s key sports properties.’

The iomtt.com website, run by Duke Marketing, had over 1m unique users over the two weeks, compared with just under 800,000 last year.

The website’s live timing service, TT Live was seen by about 200,000 fans.

Followers of the Isle of Man TT Facebook page grew to more than 140,000 during the race period and Twitter users up to nearly 40,000.

There was a growing number of online fans from countries including Brazil, India, Japan, Poland and Italy.

The new Isle of Man TT Races app, created by Agency Mobile, was downloaded 73,000 times across the race fortnight. It was the most downloaded sports app on iTunes during the event.

There were 1.86m successful connections to the digital services provided by Manx Radio via iomtt.com and the TT Races App.

Mannin Media, producers of the TT races official programme, saw a 9.5 per cent rise in its sales. It’s the highest circulation since the 2007 Centenary TT.

Passenger sailings to and from the Isle of Man will resume this afternoon after high winds caused the cancellation of a number of services.

The Manannan fastcraft sailing to Liverpool is to leave Douglas at 2pm, an hour earlier than scheduled due to forecast adverse weather, and passengers are asked to check in by 1.15pm.

If all goes to plan, the return sailing is set to leave Liverpool at 6pm, also an hour earlier than scheduled, and passengers are asked to check in by 5.15pm.

Meanwhile, the Ben-my-Chree is scheduled to leave Heysham at 2pm and is expected to reach Douglas by 5.45pm. The vessel will then leave Douglas for the return sailing at 7.45pm, reaching Heysham at 11.15pm.

As things stand, Tuesday’s sailings will run to schedule.

The Steam Packet’s sailing information line can be reached by calling 01624 645745.

ITo discuss a booking, the reservations team can be contacted on 661661 (IoM), 08722 992 992 (UK) and 0044 8722 992 992* (Eire and outside UK).

Songs of Praise is to record a programme in the Isle of Man.

Today’s Isle of Man Examiner has the details.

For the main story on page 1, we ask the Sefton Group about the future of the Castle Mona Hotel in Douglas.

Inside, we reveal the latest on the Isle of Man Festival, which was meant to go ahead in the summer, but which was cancelled.

On page 4 we report on the island’s moves in tax transparency and reveal when the FATCA deals are due to be signed.

We also meet a man from Baldrine who plans to enter the Mr Universe competition. You’ll have to look at the photo in the paper to see if you think he has a chance.

The paper also reveals that a new private school has opened its doors to the public.

The back page leads with the Rally Isle of Man.

The island’s favourite newspaper is in the shops now.

A glass window of a chip shop was smashed over the weekend.

It happened at a shop in Bourne Place, Ramsey.

The damage occurred some time between 9pm on Saturday and 10am on Sunday.

The upper glass window to the shop’s door was damaged.

The number of visitors to the TT this year shot up, according to official government statistics released today (Tuesday).

The findings show:

*Almost 40,000 visitors came to the island for the TT in 2013, up 27 per cent on the comparable figure for 2010.

*On average, they stayed 6.5 nights and spent £668 on the trip – a total of £26.2 million.

This represents an economic benefit to the island of £18.9 million and a tax benefit of £3.5 million.

*The number of TT visitors in the island on any one day reached a peak of just over 25,000 on Sunday, June 2 (‘Mad Sunday’).

*Seventy-three per cent had been to the island previously for TT, and 24 per cent tend to visit for other events such as the Southern 100 and Manx Grand Prix.

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/huge-rise-in-isle-of-man-tt-viewers-1-6053766|The news comes after figures showed a big increase in interest in the TT on television.}

The results are based on 6,160 interviews conducted with passengers leaving the island between Monday of practice week and Wednesday following Senior Race Day.

{http://www.gov.im/categories/travel,-traffic-and-motoring/passenger-survey|More details here}

There will be more on this story in Thursday’s Manx Independent.

With just 98 days to go till Christmas, Douglas is looking for buskers to add atmosphere to the town centre during the festive season.

Town centre manager Michelle O’Malley wants street performers to register for a pitch in the town centre and entertain shoppers.

‘Street entertainment makes for a great atmosphere in the town centre at any time of the year, but especially at Christmas,’ she said.

‘We’re inviting applications from all types of artists - solo singers and musicians, brass bands, community choirs, instrumental groups - anyone who can add to the mix of street theatre.

‘Demand for pitches is always high, especially for the Thursday late-night shopping evenings, so I’d advise performers to come forward now as we’re drawing up a timetable and allocating slots for this peak period.’

For the Christmas season street entertainers must apply to Douglas Development Partnership, the body that issues busking licences on behalf of Douglas Council, no later than Thursday, October 24.

Busking slots are provided free of charge.

The government is wondering whether to build a bus station for Douglas on Lord Street . . . the site of the former bus station.

This week it launched a public consultation on a proposed change to the interim planning guidance for the ‘Lower Douglas Master Plan’.

This change concerns the Lord Street site currently used as the bus station.

Planning guidance for key sites within the government’s Lower Douglas Master Plan was finalised in October last year following a public consultation.

The proposed change within the interim planning guidance for Lower Douglas relates specifically to the Lord Street site, which used to house the former bus terminal building and still has the main central Douglas bus stops on along its border with Lord Street.

Consideration has been given in recent years to relocating Douglas bus station, but the proposed amendment to interim planning guidance for lower Douglas now states that, in light of last year’s consultation, any development of the Lord Street site ‘should investigate the potential to integrate improved bus interchange facilities within the development located off/alongside the Lord Street frontage’.

At one stage, Victoria Street was touted for a possible bus station. But that idea was abandoned. {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/u-turn-over-victoria-street-bus-interchange-1-5362291|Click here to be reminded about that story.}

Laurence Skelly MHK, Department of Infrastructure political member with responsibility for planning and building control, said: ‘The proposed amendment to the planning guidance comes after we reviewed the information and views gathered as part of last year’s public consultation.

‘The suggested revision asks the public if they believe the Lord Street site should be considered for improved bus station facilities, and whether they agree with the wording used within the planning guidance that relates to the Lord Street site.

‘The location of the main Douglas bus interchange is an important issue, and one that clearly generates widespread public interest. I would therefore urge anyone who has a view to submit it to the consultation, which will run until October 28.’

The DoI says that the interim planning guidance document forms the basis for the department’s ‘vision of creating a key gateway area to Douglas and the island, based around the “Middlemarch” site, Lord Street and North Quay’. The guidance will be used as a policy document to assist in determining planning applications made within that area, and will eventually be incorporated into the Area Plan for the East, on which work has started.

The proposed Lord Street change to the Interim Planning Guidance can be viewed {http://www.gov.im/about-the-government/government/government-consultations/|here}. Alternatively, it can be viewed at the Planning and Building Control Division, Murray House, Mount Havelock, Douglas, IM1 2SF.

The government today (Monday) published a consultation response report detailing the comments received in response to the Landlord and Tenant (Private Housing) Bill consultation.

The proposals include creating a centralised register of private sector landlords and that they and their properties meet a set of minimum standards.

The Department of Social Care has also reviewed the voluntary registration scheme as a consequence of comments made throughout consultation process and in applications for the voluntary scheme. As a result the DSC will be making some changes to the wording of the minimum standards and the application form to ensure that it is as clear and simple as possible to complete.

The full Landlord and Tenant (Private Housing) Bill consultation response report can be found {https://www.gov.im/socialcare/ConsultationDetail.gov?id=365|here}

Health chiefs are warning that there is a shortage of a vaccine needed for people travelling to tropical countries.

The island, and the rest of the world, does not have enough yellow fever vaccine.

Yellow fever is a viral disease transmitted by several species of mosquito.

It is caused by the yellow fever virus, which belongs to the Flaviviridae family.

It is endemic in tropical regions of Africa and South America where the World Health Organisation estimates about 200,000 cases occur each year, with 30,000 deaths.

Since July 2013 there has been interruption to vaccine supplies.

A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘Please be aware if you are heading off on long-haul holidays, to one of the countries where yellow fever vaccination is required that this vaccine is in short supply until at least January 2014.

‘There is very little vaccine available on island and the on-going shortfall in vaccine availability cannot be helped.

‘If you are looking at booking a holiday to a country where yellow fever is present and vaccination is required, perhaps consider a different destination where your health would not be at such risk and the same advice applies for business travel at this time until supplies are restored.’

The spokesman added that there were four registered yellow fever vaccination centres in the Isle of Man and that the public were welcome to contact any of them to discuss yellow fever vaccinations.

He added: ‘Please be aware that the four yellow fever vaccination centres locally and the Isle of Man Public Health Directorate have been working together to try to overcome the vaccine shortfall and source vaccines from alternative supplies.

‘The vaccine shortages are worldwide.

‘Your GP practice may not be a designated yellow fever vaccination centre, so although they may provide all your other travel advice and any vaccinations you require, they won’t be able to administer yellow fever vaccination.’

The Isle of Man has signed two more tax information exchange agreements (TIEA).

Treasury Minister Eddie Teare MHK signed them with Italy and Lesotho on Monday in London.

The TIEA with Italy was signed by His Excellency Pasquale Terracciano, Italian Ambassador in London, and the TIEA with the government of the Kingdom of Lesotho was signed by Maanna Mapetja, the Acting High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Lesotho in the United Kingdom.

Minister Teare said: ‘These agreements are the island’s 30th and 31st TIEAs and the island now has 41 agreements that meet the OECD international standard on tax co-operation and transparency.

‘Italy is the 17th EU member state with whom the Isle of Man has signed an agreement that meets to OECD standard, while the agreement with Lesotho is the third the island has signed with members of the Southern African Development Community and it demonstrates the island’s continuing support to the OECD’s Global Forum commitment to sharing expertise and best practice on tax transparency and information exchange with developing nations.’

The number of people flying to and from the island has shot up.

According to statistics from the Department of Infrastructure, there was a 13.67 per cent increase in August of passengers using the airport, compared with the same month last year.

That was a rise of more than 8,700 to 72,718, bringing the cumulative increase so far this year to more than 7 per cent.

More details in Thursday’s Manx Independent.

UPDATED REPORT: Police investigating the death of a swan now say that it might have died some time ago.

Earlier today (Tuesday), police issued a statement referring to a ‘mindless act of animal cruelty’.

At about 5pm on Saturday (September 14) police were told that there was a dead swan in the harbour near to the bridge on Bowring Road in Ramsey.

They launched an investigation into animal cruelty and this morning made a plea for more information from the public through iomtoday.co.im and other Manx media.

However, after the police statement was reported, a member of the public told officers that they had observed a dead swan in the same location several hours before an incident was reported to the police.

Indeed, an elderly swan that nested in the area had not been seen for about two weeks.

Three youths, aged between 14 and 16, had been seen near the dead swan on Saturday. In spite of the suggestion that the bird’s death might have occurred some time ago, the police still want to talk to them.

Two were wearing light blue ‘hoodies’ and the other was wearing a black jacket. It is believed they walked towards town on Saturday afternoon.

The area was busy at the time as people were leaving the football stadium.

If anyone has any information they should contact Constable Mark Hempsall at Ramsey police station on 812234 or Crimestoppers 0800 555 111.

Top estate agent David Creane says the housing market has got quieter over the summer.

Mr Creane, who is the chairman of Cowley Groves, said that the company had a good April, May and June. But the next two months were ‘a little quieter than the previous months’.

He added: ‘Since the start of the year we have had a period of good activity followed by a lull followed by another period of good activity and another lull.

But it has to be appreciated the level of activity overall is much better than last year and we are selling a significantly higher number of units than last year. Our Ramsey office in particular is forging ahead and having an excellent period both in sales, rentals and listings.’

The Isle of Man doesn’t have an equivalent to the Nationwide or Halifax indexes, which monitor the property market and the land registry reports from the government are always subject to a lag in time.

So it’s difficult to get an accurate timely picture of the property market from any source other than estate agents.

Mr Creane said that there was ‘an abundance of property on the market for sale but not enough buyers’.

He added: ‘Some of these properties as I have indicated before are overpriced and will not achieve the figures aspired to and I would advise any vendor who is motivated to sell to speak to their agent and address the issue.

‘Those who are not in any rush to sell should perhaps think about renting if this is an option or identify the property you wish to go to and negotiate a suitable discount to enable the transaction to proceed. Alternatively it might be a good idea to rest it.

‘On a more positive note, it is very encouraging to read the good news on the economy front coming out of the UK and indeed the USA with the return of consumer spending, house price sales on the increase and the great news is that interest rates will remain low for the foreseeable future thus enabling the economy to recover.

‘This is good news for the Isle of Man where buyers can now plan with some certainty for the future.

‘The economy is improving and the low cost of funds will ensure this gradual recovery is sustained.’

----------------

Take a look at the latest Isle of Man property sales here: www.iomtoday.co.im/news/property-news

A ‘boutique’ independent preparatory school opened its doors this month, offering pupils lessons in everything from fencing to French.

For Jane Subachus it was a ‘dream come true’ when the first reception class pupils (ages four and five) arrived at Market Square Preparatory School, based in Manannan House, in Market Square, Castletown.

Jane opened a pre-school there in January and that has now grown to 50 youngsters.

She plans to slowly build up the number of school classes by introducing a new year each September.

‘I’m so excited,’ Jane said.

‘Not often do you get your dream come true.’

While spending time living in New Zealand, she was particularly inspired by the way schools were run there, which she said meant children found it more fun and challenging.

She said she was impressed by the way her two boys were always keen to go to school.

When she returned to the island, she said it was ‘now or never time’ with her idea.

The pre-school was opened first and Jane said the school grew from there.

‘Some mums of children in the pre-school had half joked they wished they could stay.

‘I thought “why not?”,’ she said.’

Jane explained: ‘We want to offer pupils everything we can to give them a broad education.’

Accordingly, children are introduced to French and Spanish while they are in the pre-school.

And in the reception class, they learn the piano, fencing, and dancing.

One aspect that sets the school apart is that children follow the International Primary Curriculum.

Jane said: ‘It doesn’t have a teacher at the front, teaching. It involves the whole class.

‘It’s their own discovery, with the aid of a teacher. That way they get the greatest satisfaction out of learning.’

She said that Market Square Preparatory School wasn’t set up as a rival to the nearby Buchan School.

‘We’re something different,’ she said. We’re tiny, we have a maximum class size of 10 and we’re not going to exceed that.’

She said a benefit of small class sizes would enable more one to one time with pupils where necessary, and each child had an individual attainment level.

There is no outside space at Market Square Preparatory School. But Jane didn’t see this as presenting a problem: ‘It doesn’t prevent us challenging every sport the Isle of Man had to offer.’

She said the school would make use of the local amenities on offer – from using the sports facilities at the National Sports Centre to rambling in the island’s hills.

Jane is currently choosing a second site which would house the ‘main’ school, for pupils aged five to 11.

It’s hoped that it will open in September next year.

‘There are viewings every week for the school,’ she said.

‘If we’d had the bigger building I think we would have filled four classes with older children.

‘But we are going to learn to walk before we run so we make it the best we can make it.’

She said inspections by schools watchdog Ofsted will ensure standards are always high.

Jane gained the National Nursery Examination Board diploma in childcare qualification when she was 18.

She previously owned a private nursery from 1996 to 2006, when she sold it to move to New Zealand.

For details about enrolment at Market Square Preparatory School call 824940.

This week is Gas Safety Week, and is being supported by the Isle of Man’s Fire and Rescue Service and the Government’s Health and Safety Work Inspectorate.

Two workshops will take place with the first today (Wednesday) at Ramsey Fire Station, 2pm to 4pm, and a second tomorrow at Castletown Fire Station, 2pm to 4pm.

As part of the campaign Manx Gas will also be offering a cyclinder amnesty where you can drop off any old gas cyclinders or arrange to have them collected from your address.

They will donate £1 to charity for every cyclinder returned.

Gas Safety Week is an annual safety week to raise awareness of gas safety and the importance of caring for your gas appliances.

Every year thousands of people are diagnosed across the UK with carbon monoxide poisoning.

The gas can’t be seen, tasted or smelt and it can kill quickly without warning.

Signs of poisoning are headaches, dizziness, breathlessness, nausea, collapse and loss of consciousness.

Some simple safety checks include; Check your gas appliances every year and have them serviced by a Gas Safe registered engineer regularly, check your engineer is Gas Safe registered.

You can check this at www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk or by calling 0800 408 5500.

The long-closed Castle Mona is unlikely ever to be a hotel again, its current owners admit.

Sefton Group boss Brett Martin said the aim was to sell the landmark into ‘sustainable use’– but doubted that would be as a hotel.

He said he was disappointed but not surprised that the Manx Education Foundation was no longer interested in leasing the building as a base for its proposed university centre for information and computer technology.

But he said the Sefton Group was actively talking to other potential purchasers and users.

Mr Martin said: ‘The property has been for sale for quite a while.

‘We initially had conversations with MEF which started quite a long time ago. They started off thinking it was a potentially good building. However, over the last seven to eight months their ardour had cooled somewhat.

‘When we heard that MEF were now looking elsewhere, it was a little disappointing but expected. It wasn’t really a surprise to us.

‘But it wasn’t the only option. We are talking to other people about the Castle Mona. We are still actively talking to people – potential purchasers and users – about options.

‘The idea is to sell it into sustainable use. I’m not sure whether that lies in hotel use. It could find a place in the world with a different use other than a hotel.’

If the MEF had gone ahead with the planned redevelopment of the Castle Mona as an ITC university, government would have underwritten the project to the tune of £5 million.

Earlier this year, the government agreed a £4.5 million bail-out of the debt-ridden Sefton Group, comprising a £1.3 million loan, repayable over five years, and the purchase and lease back of the Middlemarch site on Lord Street.

The company has reduced its debts by £72 million from a high of £96 million in the three years since new management took over following the departure of chief executive and director Graham Ferguson Lacey.

Mr Martin said the Castle Mona was valued for sale on the Sefton Group’s balance sheet for £4 million - roughly what the Group paid for it in 2007.

He said: ‘Our main focus these last couple of years has been the restructuring. We would like to get to a stage eventually where all the assets we own are earning their keep.’

He said that keeping an old building, which has not been in use for five years, came at a cost.

‘We are not looking to spend significant sums of money on the interior. But we have to keep on top of water ingress, drainage and security - that’s the reason why the windows are boarded up.’

He said the hotel, which was built in 1804 as the residence of the 4th Duke of Atholl, had a chequered history. But he said the nature of the building did not lend itself as an efficient hotel. He said he believed Mr Ferguson Lacey had been genuine in his intention of turning the Castle Mona into a 4* hotel when it was purchased by the Sefton Group in February 2007, two months after the hotel and leisure complex was closed suddenly by its previous owners.

But he said: ‘You have to bear in mind the world has changed since then.

‘The world was full of banks wanting to lend to businesses but by 2009 that whole business model had gone.’

Liberal Vannin MHK Peter Karran has written to the government’s buildings conservation officer to establish what safeguards had been carried out to protect ‘this important architectural and history [sic] building, which is part of our national heritage’.