Bassetlaw Heritage at Risk Strategy & Update To
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Bassetlaw Heritage at Risk Strategy & Update to Heritage at Risk Register – July 2020 Prepared by the Conservation Team July 2020 Document details Title: Bassetlaw District Council: Bassetlaw Heritage At Risk Strategy & Update to Heritage at Risk Register – July 2020. Summary: This document sets out the Council’s strategy to tackle heritage identified as being ‘at risk’, both in the short, medium and long term. Approved: This strategy document, including the updated Heritage at Risk Register, was adopted at Cabinet on 7th July 2020. Document availability: Copies of this document, together with details of heritage ‘at risk’ in general, are available on the Council’s website (www.bassetlaw.gov.uk) or by contacting the Conservation Team by telephone (01909 533427) or email ([email protected]). 2 Foreword Bassetlaw has a rich tapestry of built heritage, spread across the district, covering a vast range of types of buildings and structures, both large and small in scale, many of which are designated. These sites are often in prominent locations and help to establish or reinforce a settlement’s sense of place. In some cases, these ‘heritage assets’ can fall into disrepair, for a variety of reasons. In these circumstances, the buildings and structures are identified as being ‘at risk’. Heritage ‘at risk’ can impact on local communities and the environment in which we live – not only are there the visual signs of neglect, but there can also be social, economic and public safety concerns too. As the Heritage Champion for Bassetlaw District Council, it is my role to raise the profile of built heritage in Bassetlaw, particularly with regard to its care and its future. Heritage is a valuable and finite resource: once it’s gone, it’s gone. The District Council, together with building owners and external partners, has secured the repair and conservation of a large number of historic buildings, overseeing them being brought back into long-term use. This document, put together by the Council’s Conservation Team, sets out the Council’s strategy for tackling heritage ‘at risk’ going forward. It also gives examples of where the various techniques employed in the past have resulted in improvements to some of the more important heritage assets across Bassetlaw. I am delighted to endorse this strategy, which is aimed at everyone who is concerned with the historic environment – whether local residents, building owners, developers, external organisations, councillors and officers. This strategy will help the Council to achieve its regeneration objectives and conserve those important historic buildings which contribute so much to our wonderful District and our quality of life. Councillor John Shephard Bassetlaw District Council, Heritage Champion 3 Contents Section Page 1. INTRODUCTION 05 2. WHAT IS HERITAGE ‘AT RISK’? 05 3. WHY DOES HERITAGE BECOME ‘AT RISK’? 06 4. LEGAL POWERS 06 5. A STRATEGY FOR BASSETLAW 11 6. UPDATED HERITAGE AT RISK REGISTER – JULY 2020 15 4 1. Introduction Bassetlaw District has a rich and varied built heritage with over 1000 buildings, structures and monuments that are regarded to be of national significance, these are designated as either Listed Buildings or Scheduled Ancient Monuments. In addition, Bassetlaw has many areas that are of special architectural or historic interest designated as Conservation Areas, together with 4 historic parks and gardens on the national register. There are also a range of buildings and sites of local interest referred to as non-designated heritage assets, including both local interest buildings and unregistered park & gardens. Together these are collectively known as Heritage Assets. The majority of the District’s built heritage is in good condition, being occupied and well maintained. However, there are a number of Listed Buildings that have fallen into disuse and disrepair. Further, several Conservation Areas have buildings and sites in a poor condition or appearance that affects their character. These structures and sites are commonly referred to as heritage ‘at risk’ (HaR). Heritage ‘at risk’ within the district is monitored by Bassetlaw District Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and Historic England. Historic England monitor Scheduled Monuments, Grade I and Grade II* Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas at risk, while Bassetlaw District Council monitor these and also Grade II Listed Buildings. Heritage at Risk registers are published by Historic England, Nottinghamshire County Council and Bassetlaw District Council and are available on the website of each organisation. This Heritage at Risk Strategy for Bassetlaw sets out the Council’s approach to dealing with those heritage assets at risk identified on all the Heritage at Risk Registers. The forthcoming 2020 Bassetlaw Heritage at Risk Register is discussed in section 5 of this report. 2. What is heritage ‘at risk’? The term ‘Heritage at Risk’ refers to a designated building or site that is suffering from neglect and decay. These structures/sites are usually vacant, under used and/or decayed. In Bassetlaw, ‘at risk’ sites include: Listed Buildings and structures Conservation Areas; (including places of worship); Registered parks and gardens. Archaeological sites; Heritage assets at risk are assessed in accordance with nationally set criteria produced by Historic England. This ensures continuity between the national and local registers. When assessing a heritage asset, consideration is given to the level of risk to the structure, looking at its external appearance, occupancy and vulnerability. The categories range from A - in very poor condition, to F - repairs in progress. The risk scale is as follows: Category A: Immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric; no solution agreed. Category B: Immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric; solution agreed, not yet implemented. Category C: Slow decay; no solution agreed. Category D: Slow decay; solution agreed but not yet implemented. Category E: Under repair or in fair to good repair, but no user identified; or under threat of vacancy with no obvious new user (applicable only to buildings capable of beneficial use). Category F: Repair scheme in progress and (where applicable) end use or user identified; functionally redundant buildings with new use agreed but not yet implemented. 5 The risk levels previous used by the Council, including in the 2012 survey, were using the scale of 1, 1A, 2, 3, 3A, 4, 4A, 5, 5A and 6 (with 1 being the most severe and 5/6 being not ‘at risk’, at ‘A’ referring to buildings which cannot be occupied). That scale was consistent with Historic England (was English Heritage) guidance at that time. However, now the scale A-F is used by Historic England and so for consistency has been adopted by the Council. For comparison, categories A and B are broadly equivalent to 1 and 2, categories C and D are equivalent to 3 and 4, and categories E & F are equivalent to 5 and 6, although with some overlap. Dependent on the nature of the risk, a heritage asset will remain on the register until: a) all repairs are completed; b) the heritage asset is wind and water tight; c) the heritage asset is free from structural damage; or d) the heritage asset is occupied. Heritage assets will often move between categories, according to the work undertaken, yet remain on the register. In certain instances, for example Scheduled Ancient Monuments or ruinous Listed Buildings, the above requirements may not always be appropriate. In these exceptional cases, the heritage asset will only be removed once consolidation works have been completed and a ‘managed decline’ approach agreed between the owner(s), the Council and in some cases Historic England. 3. Why does heritage become ‘at risk’? Buildings and sites may become at risk for a number of reasons. Some of these may include: An owner that is not fully aware of the heritage significance of their building or site, or that it is legally protected; An absent owner who is not aware of the condition of their property; The cost of repair works being prohibitive; A lack of understanding of basic maintenance,; Vacancy through death, inability to sell, or inability to identify a viable use; An owner that simply does not care. 4. What legal powers are available to the Council? Legislation recognises that there will be times where the District Council will need to intervene in order to ensure that a building or site is preserved for future generations. Intervention may be in the form of planning enforcement action, grants and loans, or assistance through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). These different tools are discussed below: Enforcement: a) Urgent Works Notice Section 54 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, hereafter referred to as ‘The Act’, enables local authorities to execute any works which appear to them 6 to be urgently necessary for the preservation of a Listed Building in their area. If the building is occupied, the works may be carried out only to those parts not in use. The use of Urgent Works Notices should be restricted to emergency repairs to keep a building wind and weatherproof and safe from collapse, or action to prevent vandalism or theft. The steps taken should be the minimum consistent with achieving this objective, and should not involve an owner at great expense. The first step of the Urgent Works Notice process is to establish who own the building/site in question and who may have an interest in the land, so that correspondence, and if necessary notices, may be served appropriately to the correct people. This may be done using one of the following methods: Land Registry Information on ownership and those with an interest such as a lessee on a full repairing lease will be a matter of public record. Details can found at the land Registry records post April 2000 also indicate purchase price paid for a property.