Agenda item

Officer’s Report

The SCDO introduced the Officer’s report and recommendation.

With respect of Policy Context, the SCDO established the definition of a Conservation Area being area ‘of special architectural or historic interest the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance’. Section 69, Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. Section 69 further confirms the responsibilities of LPA’s to ‘review the past exercise of functions under this section and to determine whether any further parts of their area should be designated’. Section 71 of the Planning Act requires LPAs ‘to formulate and publish proposals for the preservation and enhancement’ of their conservation areas, and

Section 72 asks LPAs to pay special attention to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of the conservation area when exercising planning functions.

It was noted that funding had been received for the review of the Glaven Valley, with this Conservation Area identified early due to its 1980s designation, resulting in an increasing need for robust definition and understanding, and a requirement for an appraisal document to inform decision making. The review of the settlement designations, outlined in the Officers report, had been adopted, the final step in the current programme was to review the overlying Glaven Valley. The review has been undertaken in collaboration with the Council’s appointed consultants Purcell. Public consultation of the GVCAA was held between 21^st November 2022 and 31^st March 2023, including 3 public meetings. The feedback received from the consultation had informed changes made to the draft and proposed boundaries.

The SCDO confirmed that there were several areas proposed for exclusion from the GVCA boundary prior to the public consultation however, following feedback areas identified in Appendix 3 of the Officers report had now been retained / reinstated.

Amongst minor textual corrections raised in feedback, there had been several more major amendments to the appraisal including the Summary of Special Interest (P16-17) which had been significantly re-written post-consultation in order to better reflect the varied character of the GVCA. Due to the retention of the settlements within the GVCA, much of the text had been re-written to reflect this change. In addition, P71-79 provided a summary of each settlement and reference the individual appraisals for each one, and discussion of the North Norfolk Landscape Character Assessment (2018) had been added on P50-52.

The SCDO confirmed, subject to approval by the Working Party and Cabinet, that a three-week public consultation would be undertaken. Arrangements would include publication of the documents on the NNDC Website; invitation for comments; direct contact with properties affected by new boundary proposals which fall outside the settlement boundaries, and; notification to Parish Councils and those who had commented on the consultation previously. Rather than write to each household about the consultation directly, the Council would contact the relevant Parish Councils and ensure that notices of the consultation were placed in prominent public locations. Once the consultation had concluded, representations would be considered by the Conservation and Design Team, with a final draft expected to be returned to the Working Party late 2023.

Member’s debate and question’s

      i.        The Chairman noted that there had been great deal of public interest in the consultation and spoke favourably of undertaking a further public consultation following the responses received, considering such engagement reflected the ethos of the Council. The Chairman asked the SCDO about the consultation arrangements of engaging with the public who live in close proximity to listed buildings.

     ii.        The SCDO confirmed that the Council would write to those households in close proximity listed buildings contained in the GVCAA.

    iii.        The Chairman praised a particular response from a resident of Brinton and Sharrington and commended the research they had conducted with respect of the chalk stream, which was in the process of being registered. The Chairman noted that the Working Party were asked to consider whether to proceed with consultation, this item was presented for Members to discuss the merits of specific aspects of the GVCAA. Members would have the opportunity to review the GVCAA after the consultation had concluded.

   iv.        Cllr V Holliday declared a pecuniary interest in the item, she owns two listed properties contained withing the GVCAA. She advised her intention to obtain guidance from the Monitoring Officer on this matter.

     v.        The Chairman asked the DSO for guidance with respect of Cllr V Holliday’s declaration.

   vi.        The DSO endorsed Cllr V Holliday obtaining guidance from Monitoring Officer and suggested that Cllr V Holliday may consider abstaining from voting on this item till such advise was received.

  vii.        Cllr N Dixon proposed acceptance of the Officers recommendation. He considered this to be a comprehensive piece of work, which would benefit those less familiar with this area.

 viii.        Cllr P Heinrich seconded the Officers recommendation.

   ix.        Cllr A Fitch-Tillett commented that she was pleased that Sharrington had been proposed to for inclusion to the GVCAA, and the acknowledgement of the role of the beck tying in with the review.

RESOLVED by 8 votes for and 1 abstention.

That the Planning Policy & Built Heritage Working Party recommend to Cabinet that;

The responses to the first round of public consultation on the Glaven Valley Conservation Area Appraisal (GVCAA) are noted, and the subsequent revisions made to the text and boundary are endorsed, and;

Another round of public consultation is undertaken on the revised appraisal document as laid out in the report, the results of which will be brought back to Working Party in due course.