Agenda item

To report to Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee the first five in a series of ‘Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plans’ prepared for the Council by Essex Place Services, as well as the proposed criteria for the inclusion of buildings and structures on a ‘Local Heritage List’; and for the Committee to agree a recommendation to Cabinet that they be published for consultation and that proposals for a Local List of non-designated heritage assets be invited.

The Committee had before it a comprehensive report (and appendices) of the Acting Director (Planning) (A.2) which reported to it the first five in a series of ‘Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plans’ that had been prepared for the Council by Essex Place Services, as well as the proposed criteria for the inclusion of buildings and structures on a ‘Local Heritage List’. The report also sought the Committee’s recommendation to Cabinet that they be published for public consultation purposes and that proposals for a Local List of non-designated heritage assets be invited.

Members were aware that the District of Tendring contained a wealth of ‘heritage assets’ which included over 900 listed buildings,  20 Conversation Areas, four Registered Parks and Gardens and a variety of scheduled monuments for which the Council had a duty to preserve, or enhance, through its decision making as the Local Planning Authority.

Members recalled that, following its recommendation by this Committee, the Cabinet had agreed to formally adopt the Council’s ‘Heritage Strategy’ in March 2020. That Strategy contained a number of recommended actions for the Council and its partners which included reviewing and updating Conservation Area Appraisals and preparing a ‘Local List’ of non-designated heritage assets within the District.

It was reported that Officers had worked with Essex Place Services to review and update the Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans for all 20 of the District’s Conservation Areas and it was now proposed that these were published for consultation before being finalised and formally adopted by the Council. 

The Committee was informed that the first five of the new Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plans proposed for publication related to the:-

•    Clacton Seafront Conservation Area;

•    Dovercourt Conservation Area;

•    St Osyth Conservation Area;

•    Thorpe-le-Soken Conservation Area; and

•    Thorpe Station and Maltings Conservation Area.

Members were informed that those Conservation Areas had been put forward for consideration and publication first because they had been identified on Historic England’s Register of Conservation Areas at Risk. It was proposed that the appraisals undertaken for the remainder of the District’s Conservation Areas would be presented to the Committee and, subject to Cabinet approval, published for consultation in batches over the course of the next 12 months. 

The Committee was reminded that, throughout the District, there were also many historically important buildings which were not ‘Listed’ i.e. protected through their formal identification on Historic England’s National List’. However, Local Planning Authorities had the power to prepare their own ‘Local Heritage List’ of  ‘non-designated’ heritage assets which would give them a level of protection through the planning system when they were the subject of, or affected by, development proposals.

It was reported that the first stage of preparing a Local List was to agree a set of Criteria against which all proposed Locally Listed buildings and structures would be assessed against. It was proposed that those criteria were also published for consultation before the Council began compiling the Local List, for which suggestions from the community would be invited in due course.

With the permission of the Chairman (Councillor Turner), Councillor White, speaking in his capacity as the Chairman of the Planning Committee, addressed the Committee in relation to this item and, particularly, in relation to the St Osyth Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan.

Having duly considered and discussed the contents of the report and its appendices:-

It was moved by Councillor Allen, seconded by Councillor Fairley and:-

RESOLVED unanimously that the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee –

a)     approves, in principle, the new Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plans for: Clacton Seafront (Appendix 1); Dovercourt (Appendix 2); St. Osyth (Appendix 3); Thorpe-le-Soken (Appendix 4); and Thorpe Station & Maltings (Appendix 5); as well as the proposed Criteria for assessing buildings and structures for inclusion on a ‘Local Heritage List’ of non-designated heritage assets (Appendix 6);

b)     recommends to Cabinet that the above documents (forming Appendices 1-6) be published for consultation with the public and other interested parties;

c)      recommends further to Cabinet that a six month exercise be undertaken to invite suggestions from the community and other interested parties for structures to include on the Local Heritage List of non-designated heritage assets; and

d)     notes that Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plans for the District’s other Conservation Areas will be brought before the Committee in due course over the next 12 months.