Issue - meetings

The Principal Planning Officer and the Project Officer - Conservation Area Review presented an update to the Group regarding conservation areas.

The Principal Planning Officer explained that there were three outstanding matters from the previous update to the Group, being:

1.    How to undertake the review of Conservation Area Appraisals and encourage enhancements to conservation areas.

2.    Consider developing a list of non-designated heritage assets.

3.    Training for Planning Committee members regarding the potential for cumulative impact of development in a Conservation Area.

The Project Officer - Conservation Area Review explained that Conservation Area Appraisals would be carried out for all of the Borough’s conservation areas. The Group was advised that two approaches would be taken, a participatory approach involving the communities and a Council led approach where there was not enough capacity within a community for the review to be community led. In relation to enhancements of conservation areas, although this was difficult without funding, Article 4 directions could be considered to remove permitted development rights from properties and require planning applications for works which would not usually require them. The Project Officer - Conservation Area Review explained that there was a fee for planning permission for previously considered permitted developments.

The Project Officer - Conservation Area Review said that an order for conducting the appraisals had been proposed, commencing with larger settlements, moving to smaller settlements and then to very small villages. The order could be shared with Members of the Group after the meeting.

In relation to the local list of non-designated heritage assets, the Principal Planning Officer said that the Council had a policy within Part 2 of the Adopted Local Plan which set out criteria from which a list could be developed. Some of the Borough’s communities which had developed neighbourhood plans had used those criteria to develop localised lists.

The Principal Planning Officer said that the process of identifying non-designated assets engaged the test for non-designated assets within the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The test required a balanced judgement to be made on the level of harm to or loss of a non-designated heritage asset and its relative significance. The Principal Planning Officer referred to comment that positive buildings identified within the appraisals that lay within a conservation area should be identified as non-designated heritage assets. Whilst this may be the case in many instances, loss of a positive building in a conservation area would be harm to a conservation area which was a designated heritage asset.

The Principal Planning Officer clarified that a positive building was a building that made a strong, positive, contribution to the character of a conservation area but was not a listed building. It was noted that this could include modern buildings that may make a positive contribution, perhaps architecturally, but which would not necessarily be classified as non-designated heritage assets because they were not of historic interest. Identifying non-designated assets within conservation areas added a layer of extra of protection, but lesser protection than they would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3