Agenda item

The Planning Policy Committee:

a)    Agreed that the conservation area boundary as set out in Appendix C of the report, amended to exclude areas BA3, BA4 and BA5 as identified in Figure 4 of the consultation draft be designated and supersede the designation that was made in 2000.

b)    Agreed that the proposed changes to the Cottesbrooke Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan in response to representations, as set out in Appendices A and B of the report be approved, amended to exclude areas BA3, BA4 and BA5 as identified in Figure 4 of the consultation draft and consequential changes to the text in the Appraisal and Management Plan and the schedule of responses and actions. The precise wording of these changes to be agreed with the Portfolio holder for Planning, Built Environment and Rural Affairs.

c)     Agreed that further minor editorial changes be made to the Cottesbrooke Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan including to reflect that the document be in its final adopted form.

d)    Agreed that the Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan, as amended in a) and b) for Cottesbrooke be adopted as a supplementary planning document.

e)    Agreed the Local List entries for Cottesbrooke set out in Appendix D of the report.

f)      Agreed that an Article 4(1) for Cottesbrooke in accordance with the proposals in the conservation area appraisal and management plan be made subject to consultation (Appendix E of the report).

The Heritage Policy Assistant presented the report which sought approval for the adoption of the conservation area boundary, the adoption of the Cottesbrooke Conservation Appraisal and Management Plan as a supplementary planning document, the inclusion of buildings and sites on the Local List, and initial proposals for an Article 4(1) Direction, which would be subject to a separate consultation at a later date. The report and appendices detailed how the statutory consultation was undertaken, the results of the consultation and the proposed resulting actions.

John Harris, Chair of Cottesbrooke Parish Meeting, addressed the Committee and stated that the parish meeting felt that its representations had been largely disregarded, particularly with regards to the proposed boundary extension to include areas of woodland. He noted that clause 73 of Historic England’s Conservation Area Appraisal, Designation and Management document stated that Conservation Area designation is not generally an appropriate means of protecting the wider landscape, and felt that Cottesbrooke was subject to unnecessary micromanagement compared to other villages in the area.

In response to questions, the Committee were advised that areas may be included in a Conservation Area if they were deemed as having a positive visual impact; this was the case for area BA3. Area BA4 consisted of several spinneys dating back to the Tithe Map (1839) and also of archaeological interest, containing the remains of a lodge within the woodland. BA5 was an area of woodland that was also in existence at the time of the Tithe Map and was considered archaeologically significant. The Committee heard that at the time of making the conservation area in 2000, a decision was made to include only the registered park and garden boundary in the Conservation Area. There was currently a woodland management plan in place for area BA3; if this was subject to change upon expiry, the area’s addition to the Conservation Area would give more weight to its protection. In planning policy terms, the area was considered open countryside and so standard policy protections in respect of open countryside would apply. BA3’s inclusion in the Conservation Area would add a level of control over the trees; it would not prevent them from ever being felled but anyone wanting to carry out work on them or fell them would have to go through the Council’s application process. It would also give the Council the opportunity to consider Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) or provide some other element of control.

Members commented that the area was managed well currently by outside bodies and that the inclusion of additional woodland within the proposed extension of the Conservation Area was unnecessary.

With advice from the Local Strategy Manager, it was proposed that the recommendations within the report be agreed with the exclusion of areas BA3, BA4 and BA5 contained in the Conservation Area boundary at Appendix C of the report.

RESOLVED:

The Planning Policy Committee:

a)    Agreed that the conservation area boundary as set out in Appendix C of the report, amended to exclude areas BA3, BA4 and BA5 as identified in Figure 4 of the consultation draft be designated and supersede the designation that was made in 2000.

b)    Agreed that the proposed changes to the Cottesbrooke Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan in response to representations, as set out in Appendices A and B of the report be approved, amended to exclude areas BA3, BA4 and BA5 as identified in Figure 4 of the consultation draft and consequential changes to the text in the Appraisal and Management Plan and the schedule of responses and actions. The precise wording of these changes to be agreed with the Portfolio holder for Planning, Built Environment and Rural Affairs.

c)     Agreed that further minor editorial changes be made to the Cottesbrooke Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan including to reflect that the document be in its final adopted form.

d)    Agreed that the Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan, as amended in a) and b) for Cottesbrooke be adopted as a supplementary planning document.

e)    Agreed the Local List entries for Cottesbrooke set out in Appendix D of the report.

f)      Agreed that an Article 4(1) for Cottesbrooke in accordance with the proposals in the conservation area appraisal and management plan be made subject to consultation (Appendix E of the report).