Setting Issues - Listed Buildings, Scheduled Monuments, Conservation Areas & World Heritage Sites
If your development proposal has issues with the setting of nationally designated or locally important heritage assets, such as Listed Buildings, Scheduled Monuments or is within, or close to a World Heritage Site or a Conservation Area, then Armour Heritage's consultants can help. AH specialises in the assessment of the significance of heritage assets and will determine the potential effects any proposed development may have on their setting and their significance, as outlined in national and local planning policies.
Section 66 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (the Listed Buildings Act) states: “In considering whether to grant planning permission for development which affects a Listed Building or its setting, the local planning authority or, as the case may be, the Secretary of State shall have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses”. This principle is expanded in the NPPF to cover a range of heritage assets: “Significance can be harmed or lost through alteration or destruction of the heritage asset or development within its setting. As heritage assets are irreplaceable, any harm or loss should require clear and convincing justification”.
Through our many years' experience in this field, we understand that a fine balance needs to be struck between the requirements of the NPPF and the needs of the developer, this includes advice where appropriate on design iteration or mitigation schemes which will serve to reduce or eradicate any adverse effects on the historic environment, allowing consent to be granted.
Examples of a recent project involving Listed Building and Conservation Area issues include AH's work in Looe, Cornwall and Catford, London, outlined in our Case Studies section.