Agenda item

Members received a report on the Bromsgrove Local Heritage List (LHL).

The Principal Conservation Officer presented the repot and in doing so informed Members that the Local Heritage List ,as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report, was for the following parishes to be adopted:-

• Alvechurch
• Beoley
• Belbroughton and Fairfield
• Dodford with Grafton

In preparing this report the governance and decision making background for approval of the LHL was re-visited. This had resulted in the need for some adjustments as set out in paragraphs 3.16 to 3.20 in the report. The changes were around ensuring that the final list was approved by the correct decision making arm of the Council, and did not affect the consultation process itself or the day to day work being carried out by the Conservation Team.

Cabinet approved a revised LHL Strategy in March 2024, a summary of the Strategy was detailed on page 8 of the main  agenda pack.

Draft lists for Alvechurch, Beoley, Belbroughton and Fairfield, and Dodford with Grafton Parishes, were compiled earlier this year, ready for consultation. These lists add 140 properties to the draft LHL, and covered a diverse range of properties including houses, schools, village halls, places of worship and canal infrastructure.

A six-week consultation period commenced on Monday 27th May. Letters were sent to all owners/occupiers providing information about the consultation, including the listing for their property. This included a description and information on how the building met the LHL criteria. It also detailed the consultation event to be held in each parish as well as other ways of contacting the Conservation Team. Parish councils and Ward Members were also notified. The LHL page on the Conservation Section on the Council’s website also provided details of the consultation, with links to all relevant documents as well as the draft lists by parish. The Council’s Communications Team also promoted the consultation using social media.

Conservation officers also held conservation events in the village hall in each parish.

Seven objections were received. The Conservation Team considered these objections and reconsidered the properties. In all cases it was considered that the properties met the criteria and therefore should be included on the list, although descriptions and reasons for inclusion were amended in light of the comments and the re-examination.

Five further nominations were submitted. Of these, two were supported by the Conservation Team, one had already been considered and rejected, one was listed so could not be included, and the Wiggins Memorial Park in Alvechurch would be considered when officers considered parks and gardens as a separate category within the LHL. The owners of the two supported nominations were consulted with.

The LHL was pre-scrutinised by the Overview and Scrutiny Board, and a further update on the LHL was presented at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting on 23^rd July 2024.

RECOMMENDED that

1.1   the Local Heritage List, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report for the following parishes, be adopted:-

·       Alvechurch

·       Beoley

·       Belbroughton and Fairfield

·       Dodford with Grafton;

1.2    the wording of the Officer Scheme of Delegations for the Local Heritage

       List be updated, as set out in Appendix 2 to the report; and

1.3   the amended Local Heritage List Strategy as set out at Appendix 3 to the report, be approved.