Water Lane · Pebmarsh, Essex · 2020
Heritage appeal statement for a residential development near the Pebmarsh Conservation Area.
A development site at Water Lane in Pebmarsh, refused outline planning permission partly on heritage grounds. Heritage Unlimited prepared the heritage appeal statement, assessed the proposal against the setting of the Pebmarsh Conservation Area and its listed buildings, and won the appeal.
Water Lane is a development site in the historic Essex village of Pebmarsh, recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Pebenhers. Heritage Unlimited was instructed in 2020 to prepare a heritage appeal statement after the client’s application for two dwellings was refused, with heritage cited among the reasons.
The site sits outside, though close to, the Pebmarsh Conservation Area, designated in 1989 for the character and setting of the village around its Grade I listed fourteenth-century church. Heritage Unlimited carried out a study of the area and a site visit to evaluate the surrounding heritage assets and to address the concerns raised by the conservation officer, then set out the heritage case supporting the appeal.
- Property
- Land at Water Lane, Pebmarsh
- Listing
- Undesignated, within the setting of the Pebmarsh Conservation Area
- Location
- Pebmarsh, Essex
- Authority
- Braintree District Council
- Year
- 2020
- Outcome
- Appeal allowed, planning permission granted (since built)
An undesignated site within a historic setting.
Pebmarsh is an historic settlement with tangible evidence of medieval development retained in buildings such as the parish church and the King’s Head public house. Although the development site at Water Lane carried no designation of its own, it lay close to the Pebmarsh Conservation Area, designated in 1989 around the village and its Grade I listed fourteenth-century church.
Sites of this kind, undesignated but within the setting of designated assets, are among the most frequently contested in rural planning. The question is not whether the heritage assets are significant, which is rarely in doubt, but whether a particular proposal would harm their setting, character or appearance. That question turns on a careful reading of the site, its relationship to the surrounding assets, and the relevant statutory tests.
Addressing the conservation officer’s concerns.
The client had applied for outline planning permission to erect two detached dwellings on the land and had received a refusal, with heritage matters quoted as one of the reasons. Heritage Unlimited was asked to appeal the decision.
A study of the area and a site visit were carried out to fully evaluate the surrounding assets and to address the conservation officer’s concerns directly. Rather than treat the heritage objection in general terms, the appeal statement engaged with the specific points raised, set them against the character and setting of the conservation area, and demonstrated where the proposal would and would not have any effect.
Meeting the statutory tests.
The appeal statement assessed the proposal against the statutory tests provided by Sections 66(1) and 72 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, which require development to preserve the setting of listed buildings and the character or appearance of a conservation area.
We found the proposal met the minimum statutory tests and would have no adverse effect, nor cause any harm, to the setting of the conservation area or to any heritage asset. All other statutory tests, guidelines and local policies were satisfied and informed the argument against the decision taken by the planning department. The appeal was allowed, planning permission was granted, and the client has since built the development.
What we did
Two services, one outcome.
Heritage Appeal Statements
We prepared the heritage appeal statement that overturned the refusal, engaging directly with the conservation officer’s concerns and the statutory tests under the 1990 Act.
About Heritage Appeal Statements →Heritage Impact Assessments
The appeal rested on a clear assessment of the proposal’s impact on the setting of the Pebmarsh Conservation Area and its listed buildings, demonstrating no harm to their character or appearance.
About Heritage Impact Assessments →Considering a planning appeal?
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