Object

Representation ID: 3190

Received: 01/03/2023

Respondent: Historic England

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

While there are no designated heritage assets within the site, the grade II listed Old Hall Farmhouse lies immediately to the north west of the site. In addition, the scheduled monument (a hillfort, known as ‘Camp in Village’), lies to the north of the site, which also includes the grade I listed Church of St Mary, and grade II listed war memorial and Rectory.
Therefore, any development of this site has the potential to impact upon the significance of these heritage assets. We are particularly concerned about the potential impacts on the Farmhouse, given its proximity.
We do however appreciate this is seeking to increase the density of an existing allocation.
We welcome the preparation of the HIA. However, we disagree with some of the HIA findings. It is our view that the setting of the Old Hall Farmhouse would be affected by development across the whole site.
We would like to see approximately one third (the northeast) of the site left as orchard or, potentially a playing field extension for the school, but with no built development. Housing development should be contained within the south eastern two thirds of the site to reduce harm to the significance of the listed building by development within its setting.
This may have an impact on the capacity of the site and it may not be possible to accommodate 25 dwellings on the site at a density in keeping with the surrounding character of the village.
The policy should be amended to include this area of open space/orchard/playing field in the north eastern third of the site to protect and enhance the setting of Old Hall Farmhouse. The capacity of the site should be reduced accordingly.
Bullet point 4 states that the HER should be consulted to determine the need for any archaeological surveys prior to development. In our view, some assessment is needed to inform any planning application.
We therefore advise that bullet point 4 should be amended to read, ‘Planning applications should be supported by archaeological assessment including the results of field evaluation where appropriate.’