EAST of ENGLAND OFFICE Mr Mike Huntingdon Direct Dial: 01223
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EAST OF ENGLAND OFFICE Mr Mike Huntingdon Direct Dial: 01223 582775 South Cambridgeshire District Council South Cambridgeshire Hall Our ref: P00938212 Cambourne Business Park Cambourne Cambridge CB23 6EA 14 August 2018 Dear Mr Huntingdon T&CP (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 & Planning (Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas) Regulations 1990 LAND ADJACENT TO WATERBEACH BARRACKS AND AIRFIELD SITE, WATERBEACH, SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE, CAMBRIDGESHIRE Application No. S/2075/18/OL Thank you for your letter of regarding further information on the above application for planning permission. On the basis of this information, we offer the following advice to assist your authority in determining the application. Summary This application proposes the construction of up to 4,500 houses and other development, to form part of a new settlement on the site of Waterbeach barracks and airfield. The site is identified as a strategic site for a new town in the South Cambridgeshire Proposed Submission Local Plan (2013), currently at examination stage and awaiting the Inspector’s Report.. Historic England has been involved in pre- application discussions aimed at achieving sustainable development which would minimise the harm caused to the significance of designated heritage assets, in particular, the setting of Denny Abbey, as well as other heritage assets. The current application is accompanied by an illustrative master plan, rather than a strategic master plan for the whole settlement which would enable a more comprehensive assessment of the impacts of the development and mitigation measures to be made. More importantly, the local plan (and determination of the northern edge of built development) is still in the examination stage awaiting the Inspectors Report. In addition, the SPD for the site has yet to be completed. In view of these factors, we consider the application to be premature and recommend it should not be determined until the Inspectors Report has been published and the SPD completed. In addition, we make a number of comments regarding the masterplanning of the site, particularly in respect of land to the north of the agreed boundary and also in relation to any S106 agreement. 24 BROOKLANDS AVENUE, CAMBRIDGE, CB2 8BU Telephone 01223 582749 HistoricEngland.org.uk Historic England is subject to both the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and Environmental Information Regulations (2004). Any Information held by the organisation can be requested for release under this legislation. EAST OF ENGLAND OFFICE Historic England Advice 1. Heritage Assets and their significance: The principal designated heritage asset, whose significance would be affected by the proposed development, is the site of Denny Abbey, a scheduled monument. The mid- twelfth-century Benedictine abbey at Denny was quickly acquired by the Knights Templar for a hospital. After their suppression in the mid-fourteenth century, it became a Franciscan Nunnery of the Order of Poor Clares. The extant monastic buildings comprise part of the church which was converted for the residence of its founder, the Countess of Pembroke (later becoming a secular farmhouse) together with the nun’s refectory and barn. There are extensive earthworks and high potential for buried archaeological remains, in addition to later farm buildings. All the historic components are designated as a scheduled monument with the monastic buildings additionally listed at grade I and II*. Its significance lies its being the only one of the three English houses of the Poor Clares to retain substantial architectural remains, enhanced by its complex evolution from conversions between different religious orders. Its open fenland setting was an important factor in its location; its modern form, contributing to its significance, both in terms of a contemplative landscape setting for monastic life and an important agricultural estate; of which the causeway leading south from the abbey, linking it to Waterbeach, was an important component. The site is in the guardianship of English Heritage and is managed on their behalf, for its archaeological and historical interest, by the Farmland Museum operating from the site. In addition there will be impacts on the Waterbeach village conservation area, including its listed buildings. The significance of the conservation area lies in the survival of a rural, fen-edge village, centred on a village green; including buildings ranging in date from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries which contribute to its character, some of which are listed. Non-designated assets affected include remains of the Car Dyke, archaeological earthworks and remains at Soldiers’ Hill and buried archaeological remains within the application site. Relict earthwork features (The course of the Car Dyke Roman canal; Soldiers’ Hill) and buried archaeological remains attest to the earliest settlement recorded; the late prehistoric and Roman management, farming and use of the fen- edge landscape within the area of the proposed development and its environs. Their significance lies in their potential to build our understanding of developing rural settlement and communications on the fen edge with larger markets and towns developing in the Roman period. Although the WWII airfield and barracks of RAF Waterbeach have not been designated, they make an important contribution to the character and landscape setting of the application site, and their significance is enhanced by the historical 24 BROOKLANDS AVENUE, CAMBRIDGE, CB2 8BU Telephone 01223 582749 HistoricEngland.org.uk Historic England is subject to both the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and Environmental Information Regulations (2004). Any Information held by the organisation can be requested for release under this legislation. EAST OF ENGLAND OFFICE importance of the site as an operational base of Bomber Command. 2. Impacts of the development proposals: The proposed development has the potential to have major impacts on both designated and non-designated heritage assets. The planning application is accompanied by an Environmental Statement, Design and Access Statement and Archaeological Desk Based Assessment). Historic England has been party to pre- application discussions with consultants for the RLW and discussions led to the production of a draft Waterbeach Development Framework document (DFD) on which Historic England was consulted. These discussions have sought to explore how to minimise and offset harm to the significance of heritage assets. Key issues for Historic England in considering the current application include: (i) The northern limit of built development and illustrative uses. (ii) Green buffer zone on the northern boundary of the site. (iii) Design and building heights/Setting of Waterbeach conservation area. (iv)Buried archaeological remains should be informed by an appropriate programme of assessment and evaluation to inform an archaeological mitigation strategy. (v) Measures to sustain and enhance Denny Abbey and its setting, including those to improve its management and visitor amenity, via a S106 agreement. (i) The northern limit of built development and illustrative uses The question of the northern limit of development has been a matter under discussion between the various parties over many years. The Local Plan identifies a line but it had always been the intention to refine the precise boundary following the preparation of a settings study for Denny Abbey through the AAP process. In our representations in 2013, Historic England made it clear that the preparation of a setting study, defining the significance of Denny Abbey and how that significance is experienced, will be a crucial part of the evidence base in determining the capacity of this location for development. Since the submission of our representations in 2013 there have been two settings studies undertaken by the developers. Denny Abbey and its Setting, 4th November 2014 produced by LDA for RLW Estates and a Heritage Appraisal -Proposed Development of Waterbeach MOD site and neighbouring land, April 2016 produced by Beacon Planning for Urban and Civic. South Cambridgeshire District Council, Historic England and the developers have been in discussions to agree the precise boundary of the northern limit of development, informed both by the setting studies and also site visits. 24 BROOKLANDS AVENUE, CAMBRIDGE, CB2 8BU Telephone 01223 582749 HistoricEngland.org.uk Historic England is subject to both the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and Environmental Information Regulations (2004). Any Information held by the organisation can be requested for release under this legislation. EAST OF ENGLAND OFFICE In Dec 2016, Historic England advised the Council of its preferred alignment of the northern boundary and this view was also sustained at the Examination in Public. The Council support this line and indeed have proposed a further modification to the plan in this respect. We welcome the fact that the current application appears to follow Historic England’s preferred line in the eastern part of the new site (ie the land subject to the current application). However, we continue to have concerns regarding the use of the land to the north of this line. We note that the ES, page 180 states that, ‘North of the northern limit of built development a mixture of playing fields and informal open space are proposed over 700m to the east of Denny Abbey. In line with previous recommendations agreed with Historic England, structures, flood lighting or car parking are only