Design and Access Statement & Heritage Statement
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DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT & HERITAGE STATEMENT MR N. SCOTT PLANNING AND LISTED BUILDING CONSENT APPLICATIONS FOR CHANGE OF USE AND CONVERSION OF BARN TO ANCILLARY DOMESTIC ENCLOSED SWIMMING POOL AT AUSTHORPE HOUSE, THORPE ROAD, EWERBY THORPE, SLEAFORD NG34 9PR April 2021 (JHG/010/21) Orchard House Main Road (A607) Welbourn Lincoln LN5 0PA Tel: 01400 273997 [email protected] www.jhgplanning.com CONTENTS Section Page 1) Introduction 3 2) Development Context 3 3) Planning Policy Context 5 4) Heritage Statement 11 5) Design & Access 14 - Use 14 - Amount 14 - Layout 14 - Scale 15 - Landscaping 15 - Appearance 15 - Access 16 6) Summary 16 2 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 This document comprises a combined Design & Access Statement and Heritage Statement produced in support of applications seeking planning permission and listed building consent for the proposed change of use and conversion of an agricultural building to enclosed swimming pool at Austhorpe House, Thorpe Road, Ewerby Thorpe, Sleaford NG34 9PR. The following serves to outline, evaluate and justify the development scheme in light of its spatial, design, heritage and strategic context. 1.2 This statement should be read in conjunction with the submitted site location, survey, proposed layout and elevation plans: • 333-S-5a (OS Site Location Plan) • 333-S-6a (Existing Site Plan) • 333-S-7 (Survey Elevation and Floor Plans) • 333-S-8c (Proposed Site Layout Plan) • 333-S-9b (Proposed Floor and Elevation Plans) 2.0 DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT 2.1 The application site encompasses a disused agricultural building (former cart shed) located adjoining the northern periphery of garden land ancillary to Austhorpe House. The cart shed appears to comprise the result of incremental ad hoc extensions to an original early 19th Century barn. The agricultural building is primarily of brick and timber framed construction with red clay pantile and corrugated steel clad pitched roofs. Corrugated steel cladding is affixed to the northern elevation. The western elevation is open sided. The building and wider associated property/farm was acquired by the applicant’s family in 1973. The cart shed was primarily used to accommodate a tractor and livestock dependent upon the season. During this period, a yard (now garden land) was positioned to the immediate south of the cart shed and the southern elevation of the building was open sided. In 1978 the southern elevation was enclosed with the brick wall now in situ and the yard transitioned to garden land thereafter. 2.2 Austhorpe House is a Grade II Listed Building. It comprises a relatively substantial two-storey farmhouse constructed from coursed limestone and roofed with red clay pantiles. The barn proposed for conversion has a historic association with the dwelling and such is therefore considered to comprise a listed curtilage building. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the National Planning Policy Framework, a Heritage Statement is therefore included within this document. 2.3 As evident within the aerial photograph based image included below, land to the immediate north, east and west of the barn proposed for conversion/application site is host to a modest range of small agricultural buildings in various states of repair. Arable agricultural land is located to the north of the farm complex. Low density residential development is situated along Thorpe Road to the east, west and south of Austhorpe House. Ewerby Thorpe can be described as a small dispersed hamlet with a strong agricultural heritage. The settlement is also characterised by proliferate tree belt/copse formations. These serve to predominantly screen both the application site and much of the settlement from view of outlying countryside. The more substantial village of Ewerby is located approximately 1.0 kilometres to the west. 3 Aerial photograph depicting application site (outlined red) relative to Austhorpe House, adjacent barns and neighbouring land uses. 2.4 The proposed site is not situated within any area of designated landscape/wildlife importance (such as SSSI’s, LWS, AONB’s, Conservation Areas etc). Figures 1 and 3 of the Lincolnshire Minerals & Waste Local Plan 2016 indicate that the site is not within a ‘Minerals Safeguarding Area’. 2.5 The entirety of the application site is flat, being devoid of any notable variations in gradient or topographical features. The Environment Agency flood hazard map depicts the proposed site within Flood Zone 1, which indicates no risk of fluvial or sea flooding. There is no evidence to suggest that the site/barn has been subject to localised flooding or drainage problems attributed to surface water discharge. 2.6 The cart shed proposed for conversion is no longer compatible with the requirements of modern agriculture. Its restrictive dimensions do not permit the storage of contemporary machinery or equipment. The building is also considered to be quite unsuitable for the accommodation of livestock and storage of agricultural chemicals or arable produce in light of current welfare requirements and regulations. The building has therefore been redundant for many years and its condition is deteriorating. 2.7 Given that agricultural use of the barn is no longer feasible, the applicant is seeking to re-purpose the building in a capacity ancillary to the domestic use of Austhorpe House. By virtue of its dimensions and close spatial relationship with the dwelling and associated private garden, the barn is considered eminently suitable for conversion into an enclosed swimming pool. 2.8 The proposed development follows formal pre-application consultation (20/0089/PREAPP) with North Kesteven District Council. Feedback on the basis of an 4 earlier ‘feasibility scheme’ was initially provided on the 24th February 2020 by Planning Officer Tony Sargent: ‘Having looked at the proposal to covert the existing open storage building into a swimming pool and discussed the issue with our Conservation Officer it is considered that the scheme is broadly acceptable however one issue is the number of openings to the wall that faces onto the garden area of the house and it is advised that this number is reduced when the relevant applications are submitted.’ 2.9 A subsequent examination of historic photographs highlighted that the southern elevation of the barn used to be open sided, thus allowing the structure to function as a cart shed. The applicant sought to produce a design that addressed functional and aesthetic objectives by providing both a high level of intervisibility between the building interior (proposed swimming pool) and garden whilst retaining a sense of the building’s historic agricultural use and architectural vernacular. In light of such, NKDC’s Conservation Officer advised: ‘I would support a wall / window configuration closer to a cart shed in appearance, as indicated in the attached sketch. The rooflights would be better as a larger, continuous area of glazing, perhaps along the lower half of the whole roof (where it is above the swimming pool area).’ Planning Officer Tony Sargent accordingly stated via email dated 4th February 2021 that changes to the proposed design along the lines of the Conservation Officer’s recommendation would be supported. 2.10 In accordance with the above, the proposed scheme now in question has been amended to essentially reinstate the barn’s historic ‘cart shed’ form with three openings to the southern elevation supported by brick pillars and spanned with glazed folding doors. Experimentation with a larger expanse of rooflight glazing appeared to detract from the building’s traditional agricultural appearance. Notably more de minis conservation type rooflights are now proposed. These will integrate inconspicuously within the building’s roofscape whilst still providing the functional benefit of maximising daylight to assist with internal illumination. 3.0 PLANNING POLICY CONTEXT 3.1 The statutory Development Plan includes the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan, which was formally adopted on 24th April 2017. The Central Lincolnshire Local Plan was produced following a partnership between North Kesteven District Council, West Lindsey District Council and City of Lincoln Council. Its strategic and spatial provisions are therefore applicable across these three jurisdictions. It should be noted that the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan now supersedes the 'saved' policies of the North Kesteven Local Plan (2007). Significant weight is also given to the relevant provisions of the updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2019. Central Lincolnshire Local Plan 2017 3.2 Policy LP2 outlines the Plan's spatial strategy and settlement hierarchy. The primary objective of the strategy is to: '...focus on delivering sustainable growth for Central Lincolnshire that meets the needs for homes and jobs, regenerates places and communities, and supports necessary improvements to facilities, services and infrastructure.' In order to deliver a sustainable distribution of housing land across the Central Lincolnshire Area, the various settlements therein have been categorised within an eight tier hierarchy. The first tier concerns the most sustainable location for new 5 development whilst the eighth tier (open countryside) is considered to be the least sustainable. The application site is situated beyond the defined confines of any neighbouring settlement and Ewerby Thorpe does not appear to fall within the 15 dwelling ‘hamlet’ size classification. The proposed site is therefore classed as ‘open countryside’. Of particular relevance to this