Agenda item

To report to Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee another set of four ‘Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plans’ prepared for the Council by Essex Place Services, and for the Committee to agree a recommendation to Cabinet that they be published for consultation.

The Committee considered a comprehensive report of the Director (Planning) (A.1) which reported to it the Bradfield, Great Clacton, Lawford and Ramsey Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans prepared for the Council by Essex Place Services, and requested that the Committee agreed a recommendation to Cabinet that they be published for consultation purposes.

 

Alterations to Boundaries

 

Great Clacton

 

To the south of the churchyard and east of the twentieth century vicarage, mid-twentieth century housing had been augmented with a new development of further bungalows at the northern end of Nightingale Way, on previously undeveloped land. Those were characterful in design and had been carefully detailed but were not of sufficient architectural quality to merit inclusion in the Conservation Area. It was also proposed to omit an area of unkempt scrubland directly fronting Valley Road and a tarmacked area behind this surrounding the Army Cadets’ building located off Valley Road. The map on page 4 of the Appraisal showed the proposed amended Conservation Area boundary.

 

Lawford

 

The proposed addition to the Conservation Area included the Ogilvie Hall and early twentieth century social housing with some later infill development.

 

The boundary of the Conservation Area would be expanded eastwards along Wignall Street to include Nos. 11-16 Wignall Street on the southern side of the road. Together those buildings formed a pleasing and uniform group on the approach to the historic core of Lawford. The buildings were of special historic interest and some architectural interest as they represented a period of time when social housing had been expanded in response to the post First World War national housing crisis.

 

The boundary change would also include the 1909 Ogilvie Hall, which was in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ style and played a prominent role in the approach to the historic core of Lawford.

 

Bradfield

 

It was proposed to revise the boundary to remove Old Hall House, Harwich Road, from the Conservation Area [Figure 4]. Built since the previous appraisal, Old Hall House [Figure 3] was not considered to reflect the prevailing character of the Conservation Area due to its construction date, massing, and appearance.

 

Minor alterations were also proposed to the northern edge of the Conservation Area’s boundary to remove an outbuilding associated with Greenacres (a modern dwelling which was not within the Conservation Area boundary) on Station Road from within the Conservation Area. Other minor amendments were proposed to rationalise the Conservation Area boundary against existing plot boundaries. Those were depicted on the map on the following page.

 

Ramsey

 

The modern properties in Windmill Close had been excluded. The west boundary of the designation had been moved to the lane adjacent to White House Farm. Windmill Close, and the properties within it, were not considered to contribute to special interest nor did they form part of the historic settlement.

 

A large portion of the Conservation Area had been removed to the south of the village. This area held no architectural or historic interest in its own right and was better considered as part of the settlement’s setting.

 

Three modern properties at the east of the Conservation Area had been removed from the designation.

 

The junction of The Street, Main Road and Wrabness Road had been added. This confluence of roads, and the triangular junction, had been in place since at least the mid-nineteenth century and formed the gateway to this part of the Conservation Area. Marsh View and Revans had also been incorporated into the extension of the designation here. Whilst altered, the buildings formed part of the historic building stock and termination of the former village envelope. Revans was also formerly the village store and one of the commercial buildings located on this road junction.

 

Other minor changes to the boundary had resulted from a tightening of the designation to take account of property boundaries, which made for more practical management of the designation.

 

Designated Heritage Assets

 

The Appraisals made note of the listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered parks and gardens in each Conservation Area.

 

Proposed Non-designated heritage assets

 

Members noted that each of the Conservation Area Appraisals proposed a number of buildings to be considered on the Council’s Local List.

 

Those buildings had been identified as they were either considered to be good examples of their type or architectural style, were prominent local landmarks, demonstrated use of local materials or design features, or were connected to local historical events, activities or people, and were all relatively complete in their survival.

 

At Great Clacton

 

·      11 North Road

·      17 North Road (The Great Clacton Surgery)

·      9 StJohn’s Road (Foxes Garden and Furniture Shop)

·      397 and 399OldRoad (Vacant shop and Liberal Democrats office)

·      395 Old Road

·      Former Public Convenience (Old Road, adjacent to The Ship public house)

·      406 and 404 Old Road

·      Old Mill Cottage, 402 Old Road

·      Eaglehurst, 6 Valley Road

·      Great Clacton Methodist Church and adjacent semi-detached cottages on Valley Road

·      17 Valley Road • Sudbury House, Nightingale Way (outside of the Conservation Area boundary)

 

At Lawford

 

·      Hall Farm

·      Ogilvie Hall

·      The Old School, Church Hill

·      Woodman, Church Hill

·      Almshouses

·      11-16 Wignall Street

·      The Old Laundry

 

At Bradfield

 

·      Bradfield Place

·      Strangers’ Home

·      The Church of St Lawrence - Lychgate

 

At Ramsey

 

·      The Castle Public House;

·      12-14 The Street (excluding Owl Cottage which was Grade II Listed);

·      18 The Street (The Gables);

·      24-27 The Street;

·      The former Methodist Chapel;

·      Old Mill Cottage;

·      28-29 The Street (The Old Ramsey Cash Stores);

·      The Windmill House; and

·      Swan House.

 

Heritage at Risk

 

There were no buildings or features in the Great Clacton Conservation Area, which were on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. However, the Grade II listed 383 Old Road appeared to have been unoccupied for several years and was in a neglected state, thus this building could be considered at risk. Grade II listed Great Clacton Hall also appeared to be unoccupied following the closure of the Abbey Care Home formerly on those premises, though it appeared to be in a reasonable state of external repair.

 

At the time of writing in 2023, no buildings within the Lawford or Bradfield Conservation Areas featured on the national list of Heritage at Risk published by Historic England.

 

There were no buildings or features in the Ramsey Conservation Area, which were on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. However, Grade II* listed Ramsey Windmill appeared to have been unoccupied for several years and this building could be considered at risk. Given the condition of the Conservation Area, and the issues identified, this appraisal recommended the inclusion of Ramsey Conservation Area on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.

 

Archaeology

 

Throughout these Conservation Areas, there was the potential for a multitude of below-ground heritage assets yet to be discovered. In general, the appraisals promoted a cautious approach to development, which might disturb or destroy those assets.

 

Assessment of significance

A detailed assessment of significance of each of the Conservation Areas had considered the following features:

 

·      Layout

·      Building materials and boundary treatments

·      Listed buildings and non-designated heritage assets.

·      Other buildings

·      Landscaping and open spaces

·      Views

 

Opportunities for Enhancement

 

·      At Great Clacton, due to its location, there were issues with traffic through the Conservation area;

·      All of the Conservation Areas would benefit from interpretation of the historic features in the area;

·      At Great Clacton there were a number of vacant buildings in the Conservation area;

·      All areas suffered from loss of architectural detailing;

·      Great Clacton and Lawford also had street furniture that required attention plus inappropriate signage;

·      Road surfacing was of poor quality particularly in Great Clacton;

·      At Great Clacton and Bradfield there were areas of poorly kept public open space; and

·      All of the Conservation Areas suffered from inappropriate modern development

 

Management Proposals

 

·      Production of a list of local non-designated heritage assets;

·      The Council using Article 4 Directions and its enforcement powers within all Conservation Areas;

·      Production of heritage guidance leaflets for residents and business owners;

·      The Council should work closely with the Highways Authority to address street clutter and signage in Great Clacton and Lawford Conservation Areas; and

·      Bradfield would benefit from heritage interpretation within the Conservation Area.

 

Funding Opportunities

 

·      Heritage lottery fund

·      S106 Agreements

·      Partnership Schemes in Conservation Areas

 

During the consideration of this item, the Chairman requested that the following matters, be reviewed by Officers, for inclusion on an agenda for a future meeting of this Committee:-

 

(1)    whether Tendring District Council should cease its policy of not imposing Tree Preservation Orders on Essex County Council owned land in the light of a recent possible case of harm caused by highways works to a tree planted in 1910 at Kirby Cross;

 

(2)    the conservation and repair of surviving historic fenestration in Conservation Areas in the light of the energy conservation needs of households; and

 

(3)    the prevention of the dilution of positive buildings amongst those which are neutral thereby leading to an underwhelming and indistinctive overall character. There was a need to avoid the quality of design being ‘averaged down’ by the neutral and negative elements of the built environment.

 

At the invitation of the Chairman, the Planning Portfolio Holder (Councillor Bray) addressed the Committee on the subject matter of this item.

 

It was moved by Councillor Allen, seconded by Councillor Chapman BEM, and unanimously:-

 

RESOLVED that the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee:

 

a)     endorses the new Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans for Great Clacton (Appendix 1 to item A.1 of the Report of the Director (Planning)), Lawford (Appendix 2 thereto), Bradfield (Appendix 3 thereto) and Ramsey (Appendix 4 thereto) Conservation Areas;

 

b)     recommends to Cabinet that the above documents forming Appendices 1, 2, 3 and 4 be published for consultation with the public and other interested parties; and

 

c)      notes that Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans for the District’s three remaining Conservation Areas will be brought before the Committee in due course.