Response from Mr Paul Grout (Individual)
1. Mr Paul Grout (Individual) : 15 Apr 2011 13:00:00
Settlement
Heversham and Leasgill
Map Number
23 Heversham and Leasgill
Site reference number (e.g. R62) - If your comment is about a specific site you must indicate the correct site reference.
R41
Housing
Oppose
Employment
Oppose
Retail
Oppose
Community uses
Oppose
Open space
Support
Please explain your reasons
The reason for my objection to the development of site R41 is the detrimental affect that such development would have on the Heversham Conservation Area.
It is self evident that Conservation Areas have been established to protect areas which are deemed to have certain special qualities from development that would harm them. It is a well supported policy - especially in and around the Lake District - and has served to protect the character of many villages and towns, arguably to the benefit of all.
The policy does not mean that development in relation to Conservation Areas is impossible but just that it should be controlled in a way that will not damage them. In some cases development can even enhance a Conservation Area if it is sensitively designed and well carried out. The important thing is to identify carefully what it is about the area that is special and to ensure that this is protected.
One of the defining features of the Heversham Conservation Area is its linear character that has evolved over hundreds of years along one of the main roads into the Lake District. It is particularly evident in the central part of the village where the focal point is the Church of St Peters, a beautiful medieaval building with its striking Victorian tower. Here the houses face directly onto the road and their backs form a higgledy-piggledy group over which the Church Tower looms. All this is set in a wide rural landscape of farms and open space and is visible from miles around.
The field R41 itself forms the setting of the Conservation Area which defines this linear character in the central part of the village. Anything but a rural field will fail to do this – develop it in any way at all and the linear character is lost. In this case, therefore, no amount of sensitive architectural design could ameliorate the impact. It is the presence of the houses themselves that is the problem.
There are many other options available for development in Heversham, some of which could even fall into the category of potentially enhancing the village, but this field that plays such an important part in the setting of the Conservation Area is, in my opinion, the wrong choice.
