This is really good news. The full report from Building Conservation can be found on the NCC website. A condensed version reads.... Assessment of the Development Impact Further to an evaluation of the applicant?s submissions including a Heritage Statement and our inspection of the site Building Conservation strenuously disagree agree with the submitted document which purports that the ?scale of the proposed development will not have any detrimental effect on the visual dominance of the heritage setting? and that the ?development will extend what is already an area of domestic housing and so will not be altering the nature of the setting of the heritage asset?. We consider that while the development would not have a direct physical impact on the listed farmhouse it would result in a substantial impact on the setting of the listed building. The ?visual dominance? of the heritage asset would, in our opinion, be altered to such a degree that it would substantially harm the listed building?s significance. The construction of 44 new dwellings ranging in height with attached single and 2-storey garages would completely change the landscape form of agricultural land and the visual prominence and appreciation of Old Barnes Farmhouse. The setting of Old Barnes Farmhouse has remained relatively unaltered and closely resembles the setting in which the asset was first constructed. Cartographic evidence clearly illustrates that the approach to the listed building ? specifically the rising agricultural land in which it sits ? has remained unchanged since the early Tithe Ward Map of Warkworth dating 1843 and subsequent Ordnance Survey Maps. As noted in the English Heritage Guidance document ?The Setting of Heritage Assets? (2012, Page 7): ?The likelihood of this original setting surviving unchanged tends to decline with age and, where this is the case, it is likely to make an important contribution to the heritage asset?s significance.? Having regard to the agreed definition of ?setting? (clarified in English Heritage Guidance ?The Setting of Heritage Assets?) as the surroundings in which an asset is experienced and taking into account the impact of the proposed development on the views from and views to the listed building we consider that the impact of the development on the setting of Old Barnes Farmhouse would cause ?substantial harm? to the significance of the designated heritage asset in the context of National Planning Policy (NPPF) paragraph 133. It is further acknowledged that while the Morwick Road component of Warkworth has experienced change with the inclusion of housing developments such as Heatherleazes, these have been small in scale and compact in form. The proposed housing scheme is extensive and based on suburban rather than rural design principles. It is the opinion of this office that the proposed scheme represents an over-intensification of development within a rural setting on what is and has always been open farmland. We believe that the scheme as submitted would result in ?substantial harm? to the significance of the listed farmhouse and the character of Warkworth?s rural landscape. CONCLUSION: Building Conservation recommends that the application is refused. _______________ Sharon Kelly Building Conservation Officer
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 20:57:25 +0000
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