ED.4.1.7 BUILT HERITAGE ASSESSMENT LAND AT GORCOTT HALL REDDITCH Planning G Heritage JUNE 2013 Specialist & Independent Advisors to the Property Industry Amended DECEMBER 2014 Planning Authority: STRATFORD UPON AVON DISTRICT COUNCIL BROMSGROVE DISTRICT COUNCIL Site centred at: 408363,268251 Author: SIMON ROPER-PRESSDEE BSc (Hons), PG CERT, IHBC, PIFA Approved by: Report Status: FINAL Issue Date: DECEMBER 2014 © CgMs Limited No part of this report is to be copied in any way without prior written consent. CgMs Ref: Every effort is made to provide detailed and accurate SR/15372 information, however, CgMs Limited cannot be held responsible for errors or inaccuracies within this report. © Ordnance Survey maps reproduced with the sanction of the controller of HM Stationery Office. Licence No: AL 100014723 Contents 1.0 Introduction 1 2.0 Planning Policy Context 3 3.0 Consultation 14 4.0 Historic Built Environment Appraisal 16 4.1 Introduction 16 4.2 Existing Site 16 4.3 Built Heritage Assets – Description, Setting and Significance 17 5.0 Proposed Development 26 6.0 Impact Assessment 27 7.0 Conclusion 39 Figures: Figure 1: 1st Edition Ordnance Survey (A3) Figure 2: Ordnance Survey, 1955, showing construction of road network(A3) Figure 3: Ordnance Survey 1984, showing construction of housing to south (A3) Figure 4: Ordnance Survey 2006 showing construction of industrial park to west (A3) Figure 5: Ordnance Survey 2013 (A3) Figure 6: Indicative Schematic Site Plan (AJA Architects) (A3) Figure 7: Existing sections through Site (AJA Architects) (A3) Figure 8: Indicative sections through Site (AJA Architects) (A3) Figure 9: Local Authority boundaries (A3) Appendices Appendix 1a Photo locations (A3) Appendix 1b Plates (A4) © CgMs Limited No part of this report is to be copied in any way without prior written consent. Every effort is made to provide detailed and accurate information. However, CgMs Limited cannot be held responsible for errors or inaccuracies within this report. © Ordnance Survey maps reproduced with the sanction of the controller of HM Stationery Office. OS Licence No. 100014723 Built Heritage Assessment Gorcott Hall, Redditch _______________________________________________________________________________________ 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 This report has been prepared by Simon Roper-Pressdee of CgMs Consulting on behalf of The Gorcott Estate Settlement Trust (The Trust). 1.2 The amendment to the report (November 2014), including the more detailed assessment of impact arising from potential development, has been prepared on behalf of Stoford Developments who have been appointed on behalf of The Trust and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) as their preferred Development Partner. 1.3 It is prepared in response to an initial consultation response from English Heritage, and concerns from Bromsgrove and Stratford on Avon District Councils, on the potential for impact on the significance and setting of the Grade II* Gorcott Hall. 1.4 The report assesses the impact of such proposed development this heritage asset, adhering to the English Heritage methodology of assessment, and is in line with the requirements set out within The Setting of Heritage Assets, following discussions with both English Heritage and Stratford upon Avon District Council. 1.5 It is acknowledged that Bromsgrove District Council has prepared an assessment of the historic setting of Gorcott Hall (Setting of Heritage Assets report – Assessment of historic setting of Gorcott Hall, 2014), which examines the potential for development for part of the Site. However, the latter report purely focuses on land within Bromsgrove, and therefore does not consider the setting as a whole. To this end, the following assessment examines the potential for impact across the whole Site on Gorcott Hall, irrespective of in which Local Authority areas of the Site lies within. The updated report has also been discussed with English Heritage, Bromsgrove District Council and Stratford on Avon District Council, and a meeting was held on the 2nd December with English Heritage, the salient points of which are covered in Section 3.0. 1.6 Comments were also received from Bromsgrove District Council on the updated report, again the salient points of which are covered in Section 3.0. Whilst it is recognised that there remains some discrepancy between the Bromsgrove District Council report and this report, the author of this report remains of the view that the analysis contained within this report indicates that the whole site remains capable of sustaining some ________________________________________________________________________________________________ © CgMs Ltd 1 15372 Built Heritage Assessment Gorcott Hall, Redditch _______________________________________________________________________________________ development, and that the development control process is sufficiently robust to consider the details of any development, including scale, massing, materials, and detailed design – a view supported both by Bromsgrove District Council and Stratford on Avon District Council. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ © CgMs Ltd 2 15372 Built Heritage Assessment Gorcott Hall, Redditch _______________________________________________________________________________________ 2.0 PLANNING POLICY CONTEXT 2.1 Legislation regarding buildings and areas of special architectural and historic interest is contained within the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (The Act). 2.2 The pertinent Sections of the Act extends to Section 66, which states that special regard must be given by the decision maker (in this case the Inspector) in the exercise of planning functions to the desirability of preserving or enhancing listed buildings and their settings. In March 2012, the Government published the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which replaced national policy relating to heritage and archaeology (Planning Policy Statement 5: Planning for the Historic Environment). 2.3 In March 2012, the Government published the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). 2.3.1 Section 12 of the NPPF, entitled Conserving and enhancing the historic environment provides guidance for planning authorities, property owners, developers and others on the conservation and investigation of heritage assets. Overall, the objectives of Section 12 of the NPPF can be summarised as seeking the: Delivery of sustainable development Understanding the wider social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits brought by the conservation of the historic environment Conservation of England's heritage assets in a manner appropriate to their significance, and Recognition that heritage contributes to our knowledge and understanding of the past. 2.3.2 Section 12 of the NPPF recognises that intelligently managed change may sometimes be necessary if heritage assets are to be maintained for the long term. Paragraph 128 states that planning decisions should be based on the significance of the heritage asset, and that the level of detail supplied by an applicant should be proportionate to the importance of the asset and should be no more than sufficient to review the potential impact of the proposal upon the significance of that asset. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ © CgMs Ltd 3 15372 Built Heritage Assessment Gorcott Hall, Redditch _______________________________________________________________________________________ 2.3.3 Heritage assets are defined in Annex 2 of the NPPF as: a building, monument, site, place, area or landscape positively identified as having a degree of significance meriting consideration in planning decisions. They include designated heritage assets (as defined in the NPPF) and assets identified by the local planning authority. 2.3.4 A Designated heritage asset comprises a: World Heritage Site, Scheduled Monument, Listed Building, Protected Wreck Site, Registered Park and Garden, Registered Battlefield or Conservation Area. 2.3.5 Significance is defined as: The value of a heritage asset to this and future generations because of its heritage interest. This interest may be archaeological, architectural, artistic or historic. Significance derives not only from a heritage asset’s physical presence, but also from its setting. 2.3.6 In short, government policy provides a framework which: Protects nationally important designated Heritage Assets (which include World Heritage Sites, Scheduled Ancient Monuments, Listed Buildings, Protected Wreck Sites, Registered Parks and Gardens, Registered Battlefields or Conservation Areas). Protects the settings of such designations. Provides for a proportionate level of recording of buildings and areas not significant enough to merit total preservation. 2.4 English Heritage has published guidance and methodology for assessing heritage significance within views, "Seeing The History In The View" (May 2011), which provides a consistent base-line for assessing the impact of development on heritage significance within views. They have also published further guidance on assessing the importance of the setting of assets, “The Setting of Heritage Assets” (October 2011). Both sets of guidance have been taken in to account in preparing this report. 2.5 In considering any planning application for development, the planning authority will be mindful of the policy framework set by government policy, in this instance NPPF, by current Development Plan Policy