Agenda item

The Principal Conservation Officer presented the Local Heritage List Strategy report for the consideration of Cabinet. During the presentation it was highlighted that this report provided an update on progress of the Local Heritage List Strategy adopted in 2016. It was noted that there had been progress on the list, however there had been issues faced particularly in the public engagement element of the strategy.

Members’ attention was drawn to the summary of the Local Heritage List Strategy contained within the report which included information regarding the value of heritage assets to local communities and that the Bromsgrove District Plan (2017) acknowledged the importance of adopting a Local List to formerly identify the locally important heritage assets within the District.

Officers reported that the criteria for inclusion on the Local Heritage List had been identified, and included the following:

1.     Age

2.     Authenticity and Rarity

3.     Architectural interest

4.     Historic interest

5.     Townscape / Villagescape / Landscape interest.

It was stated that in order to be included on the List, candidates needed to satisfy the first criteria stated above and at least one other.

Cabinet was informed that Historic England provided the guidance in respect of Local Heritage Listings. Contained within this guidance was the importance of community engagement within the process.

It was explained that prior to the work on the Lists for Beoley and Dodford, public consultation events were held to gain public feedback on the draft conservation areas for both Beoley and Dodford Conservation Areas. At these events the opportunity was taken to publicise the Local Heritage Lists. It was noted by Officers that the public response had been limited and only a handful of nominations had been received from the public. Officers clarified that this represented around ten responses.

In the original Local Heritage List Strategy, nominations for inclusion on the list were to be considered by an assessment panel who considered the suitability of all the assets nominated against the selection criteria. However, since the original strategy was adopted there had been changes experienced in staffing levels of Conservation Officers working within the Council. Cabinet was informed that the conservation resources had now doubled and had allowed for internal benchmarking of the proposed list to take place. Therefore, the assessment panel’s role had become less relevant compared to the public engagement element which was considered extremely important. A further change since the original strategy was adopted, was the increased use of the Council’s website and social media resources. Officers explained that this extra resource would be utilised to increase public engagement as part of the proposed update to the process. In addition, there would also be opportunities to engage with the local Ward Councillors, Parish Councillors and building owners as part of the new process.

In terms of how the draft lists would be presented, Officers stated that there would be a half page summary of the heritage asset, which included a brief description, the assessment of criteria and a location map of the site.

Draft lists for Beoley, Alvechurch, Belbroughton and Dodford had now been prepared. These lists had resulted in 140 properties being added to the draft Local Heritage List. The sites comprised of a diverse range of properties including houses, schools, village halls, places of worship and canal infrastructure. Members were informed that work was underway on the preparation of the draft lists for Bromsgrove Town, Lickey and Blackwell and Wythall.

Going forward, it was proposed that further lists would be prepared for the remaining areas within the District in consultation with the Head of Planning, Regeneration and Leisure. The final sections of the list would be presented to Cabinet for formal adoption as the Local Heritage List for Bromsgrove. It was envisaged that Officers would prepare a number of reports in tranches over the next twelve to eighteen months with each one covering a number of parishes / areas so that Local Heritage List coverage could be achieved as soon as possible, rather than wait for the whole District to be assessed before the list was finalised.

Following the presentation of the report there was a detailed discussion regarding the updated process. This included the following areas:

·       Appeal processes – there would be no appeal process as part of the newly proposed process. Comments would be sought from property owners as part of the consultation process. However, if an owner did not want their property to be included on the list, this would not be deemed a satisfactory reason for it not to appear on the list. This was the same in the statutory property listing process.

·       Permitted Development Rights – these rights would still be recognised as these were made by Central Government. Inclusion on the Local Heritage List would be included as a material consideration as part of the planning process just as statutory listing was currently a material consideration.

·       Areas of work already completed – it was raised that all of the work already undertaken had been in parished areas of the District. It was felt that work also needed to be undertaken in unparished areas. Officers confirmed that this would be done and that there had been no particular reason as to why work had been carried out in parished areas so far other than the link to the conservation area appraisals that had been completed in these areas. There would certainly be a mix of assessments carried out in both parished and unparished areas over the course of the work. It was noted that there were some areas located within the District that had more interest in the process for example Alvechurch was very engaged, in part because that area had its own neighbourhood plan.

There was a discussion regarding specific areas contained within the strategy, including in respect of non-designated Heritage Assets. It was noted that the ‘balanced judgement’ would be provided when an application was considered by the Planning Committee or in cases when the Committee did not consider an application, this judgement would be provided by the Planning Officers. These judgements would include consideration of the public benefit if a non-designated Heritage Asset were to be affected as part of a planning application. This was already in place as part of the statutory listing process.

Some Members queried the non-inclusion of heritage assets on the list and that non-inclusion did not necessarily mean that there was no heritage value of that property. Officers explained that the fact that the property was still a ‘heritage asset’ would still be a material consideration in the planning process.  However, it provided flexibility in assessing future heritage assets as and when architectural interests inevitably changed over time resulting in properties that were not on the list being added to the list in the future.  

Members asked what national intelligence was available in respect of planning applications that were refused by the Local Authority on the grounds of heritage value but were subsequently granted on appeal. Officers were unsure of the exact data in this area but undertook to look into this further.

It was requested that changes to the wording regarding the Chartist Settlement at Dodford be reworded within the strategy for clarity. Officers undertook to make these necessary changes.

The Chairman of the Overview and scrutiny Board presented the recommendations from the Board which were as follows:

1)    That District Ward Councillors be directly involved in the consultation process for the Local Heritage List (LHL) in their respective ward areas.

2)    That the final Local Heritage List (LHL) for Bromsgrove, covering the whole district, be completed and published within the next 18 months.

In presenting the recommendations the Chairman of the Board reiterated the need for Officers to consider unparished areas within the District as part of the work. It was also noted that there was a rich history in Rubery of local heritage properties such as Nailers’ and Button Cottages and that local Ward Members could provide useful information in respect of the assets within their wards.

In respect of the second recommendation, Officers suggested that it seemed reasonable that the works would be completed within the eighteen months suggested. However, if there were any delays they would be reported accordingly. It was also confirmed that at the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board it had been requested that Officers provided the Board with a quarterly update in respect of progress and that a project plan would be provided at the Board meeting due to take place in April 2024.

RESOLVED that

1)    Cabinet approve the revised Local Heritage List Strategy Document.

2)    Cabinet delegate the authority to the Head of Planning, Regeneration and Leisure Services to publish for consultation draft sections of the Local Heritage List.

3)    District Ward Councillors be directly involved in the consultation process for the Local Heritage List (LHL) in their respective ward areas.

4)    the final Local Heritage List (LHL) for Bromsgrove, covering the whole District, be completed and published within the next 18 months.