Cultural Heritage
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Non-technical summary (NTS) 1: Introduction 2: Site description and development proposal 3: Environmental issues and methodology 4: Air quality 6 5: Community and social effects 6: Cultural6: heritage:Cultural heritage: designated designated heritage heritage assets assets 7: Cultural heritage: undesignated heritage assets 8: Hydrology and water quality 9: Land use 10: Landscape and visual effects 11: Natural heritage 12: Noise and vibration 13: Traffic and transport 14: Summary tables 15: Future development Glossary King’s Gate, Amesbury ES Chapter 6: Cultural heritage - designated heritage assets Bloor Homes Ltd 6 Cultural heritage - designated heritage assets Introduction 6.1 This chapter considers the impacts of the proposed development at King’s Gate, Amesbury on the designated elements of the historic environment: scheduled monuments, listed buildings, and area designations covering historic town centres, designed landscapes and the Stonehenge, Avebury and associated sites world heritage site. Legislation and policy 6.2 National and international policy recognises the value and significance of cultural heritage and the public interest in the preservation of particular assets, and sets out mechanisms to ensure that it is taken into account in planning decision making. Sites and features of identified interest are protected by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, as amended, and within the planning system by the Town and Country Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. As a State Party to the 1972 UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the World Heritage Convention), the UK is required to protect, conserve, present and transmit to future generations its world heritage sites. 6.3 National planning policy guidance on the conservation of the historic environment is provided by Planning Policy Statement 5: Planning for the Historic Environment (PPS5), published in March 2010. Guidance on implementation of this policy is provided in the accompanying Planning for the Historic Environment Practice Guide. The objectives of the PPS are to conserve the historic environment for its own intrinsic value and to take account in decision making of its potential instrumental value for place making and contribution to sustainable development. Designated and undesignated heritage assets are distinguished from the wider definition of historic environment, the majority of which is not covered by protective designations. Specific protection within the planning system applies to world heritage sites, through the Circular for England on the Protection of World Heritage Sites and related guidance (2010). 6.4 Detailed policies on development management concern the need to clearly define the significance of any potentially affected site or area, the pre- application information requirements for any proposals, including for archaeological field evaluation, and the principles to be considered in determining any proposal for change potentially affecting heritage assets. There is an overall requirement to gather sufficient information to ensure an adequate understanding of the significance of an asset before any decisions affecting its future are made. A key concept in the PPS is that of proportionality; that the information required, efforts to preserve, and degree of public benefits necessary to offset any harm or loss of an asset should be based on an understanding of its significance. Terence O’Rourke Ltd March 2012 151004d King’s Gate, Amesbury ES Chapter 6: Cultural heritage - designated heritage assets Bloor Homes Ltd 6.5 The relevant planning policies regarding cultural heritage are set out in the Salisbury Local Plan 2011. Conservation policies are CN5 on development potentially affecting the setting of a listed building, CN11 on the effects of new development on conservation areas, CN18 on development affecting historic parks and gardens, CN20 - 23 on the archaeological implications of new development and CN24 on development affecting the Stonehenge WHS. 6.6 A number of additional documents are relevant to this assessment. The Stonehenge World Heritage Site Management Plan (2009) sets out the strategy for the protection of the outstanding universal value of the 2,600 hectare inscribed area. Its primary aim is the protection of the archaeological landscape, but it also addresses other issues such as access, farming and local community. The plan explains the international significance of the site, outlines the key management issues and provides long term aims and detailed policies. Wiltshire Council has adopted the management plan as supplementary guidance and it is a material consideration in determining planning applications that affect the Stonehenge WHS. 6.7 The Settlement Setting Assessment (CBA, 2008) produced as part of the Salisbury district landscape character assessment considers the key sensitivities of the landscape to development and change, with particular reference to the setting of the area’s main settlements. The Salisbury Historic Environment Assessment (Land Use Consultants, 2009) produced for English Heritage extends that assessment to give greater consideration to impacts on the historic environment. The report assesses likely implications for the historic environment of a number of development proposals, one of which is the Archers Gate allocation. Methodology 6.8 The EIA has included both desk based work and a programme of archaeological evaluation (see chapter 7 for the assessment of on site archaeology). The desk-based studies assess the cultural heritage of the site and its environs as it appears in existing information through designation, the national or local archaeological record, documentary sources or other studies. A site visit was undertaken on 12 January 2012 to inform the baseline and to validate the impact assessment. The study area covers the proposed application site itself and a 5 kilometre radius, to allow the consideration of the potential for any regional-scale effects. The data sources consulted are outlined in table 6.1. All designated heritage assets are illustrated on figures 6.1 to 6.3 and listed in the gazetteers in technical appendix C1. Terence O’Rourke Ltd March 2012 151004d King’s Gate, Amesbury ES Chapter 6: Cultural heritage - designated heritage assets Bloor Homes Ltd CBA, Salisbury District Landscape Character Assessment: Settlement Setting Assessment 2008 Communities and Local Government 2010 Planning Policy Statement 5: Planning for the Historic Environment Dyer C, The archaeology of medieval small towns, Medieval Archaeology, Vol 47, 2003 English Heritage 2009 Stonehenge World Heritage Site Management Plan English Heritage 2008 Conservation principles – policies and guidance for the sustainable management of the historic environment English Heritage, 2011, The setting of heritage assets: English Heritage guidance, http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/ http://list.english-heritage.org.uk Institute of field archaeologists 2008 Standards and guidance for archaeological desk based assessments Lambrick G, 2008 Setting Standards; A Review, IFA working group on the setting of cultural heritage features Lambrick, G. and Hind, J. 2005 Planarch 2: Review of Cultural Heritage Coverage in Environmental Impact Assessments Oxford Archaeology Land Use Consultants for English Heritage, April 2009, Salisbury Historic Environment Assessment Lane, R, 2011, Stonehenge World Heritage Site Landscape Project; Architectural Assessment, English Heritage Research Department Report Series no 42-2011 Pevsner N and Cherry B, Buildings of England; Wiltshire 1975 Roberts, B.K. and Wrathmell, S., 2000, An Atlas of Rural Settlement in England, English Heritage Publications Salisbury District Council, Amesbury Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan September 2008 Salisbury District Council, Durrington Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan, September 2008 Salisbury District Local Plan 2011 Table 6.1 Data sources consulted 6.9 The chapter makes use of the ZVI and viewpoint photographs produced for the landscape and visual effects assessment in chapter 10. In order to gain an appreciation of the theoretical extent the proposed development may extend to, and potentially interact with the designated archaeological assets within the 5 km study area (see figure 6.1), the ZVI (figure 10.5) was applied to the cultural heritage designations (figure 6.8). The model is based on available data including Lidar data from the Environment Agency (flown January 2011) across the site and western study area at 1metre accuracy. This height data takes account of extant development and woodland and adds a level of accuracy to the theoretical visibility model, an essential consideration in an assessment in close proximity to such a significant WHS landscape. Further detail on the methodology of the ZVI modelling is presented in annex 1 of chapter 10. All viewpoint photographs are taken from publicly accessible locations. There are currently no detailed proposals; the only parameters for the EIA are the master plan layout, building heights, density, access and landscape strategy figures 2.1 to 2.5. Terence O’Rourke Ltd March 2012 151004d King’s Gate, Amesbury ES Chapter 6: Cultural heritage - designated heritage assets Bloor Homes Ltd Scope of work 6.10 The intention of the assessment is to provide a description of the likely value, extent, state of preservation and potential significance of the designated heritage assets within the wider 5 km