Hewell Grange Estate - Setting of Heritage Assets Assessment

Practice Guide. These policies provide the basis for decision making by local planningauthorities’. In addition Policy HE 9.2 is quoted, ‘where development affecting thesetting of a designated asset results in substantial harm to significance, it can bejustified only if it delivers substantial public benefits that outweigh that harm. This sectionhas been superseded by Paragraphs 132 and 133 of the NPPF. Paragraph 132 states’Significance can be harmed or lost through alteration or destruction of the heritage assetor development within its setting. As heritage assets are irreplaceable, any harm or lossshould require clear and convincing justification’. Further, ‘Substantial harm to or loss ofdesignated heritage assets of the highest significance, notably scheduled monuments,protected wreck sites, battlefields, grade I and II* listed buildings, grade I and II*registered parks and gardens, and World Heritage Sites, should be wholly exceptional.’Paragraph 133 states, ‘Where a proposed development will lead to substantial harm toor total loss of significance of a designated heritage asset, local planning authoritiesshould refuse consent, unless it can be demonstrated that the substantial harm or loss isnecessary to achieve substantial public benefits that outweigh that harm or loss.’Having considered the above statements it is concluded that any major development inThe Area, which has remained the relatively unaltered southern setting of the RPG andCA, would cause substantial harm to these heritage assets. In deciding whether the landshould be allocated for future development, it has to be considered if the harm isnecessary to achieve public benefit, and whether that public benefit outweighs the harmto the significance of the HAs. The public benefit has to be measured against theimportance of the assets, in this case there are two, the CA and the RPG (listed GradeII*), and one of the overriding objectives of the NPPF is to conserve irreplaceableheritage assets.ConclusionCarrying out the English Heritage Five step assessment methodology detailed in theGuidance document, ‘The Setting of Heritage Assets, has provided specific evidenceand analysis of that evidence, which demonstrates both the significance of the setting incontributing to the significance of the RPG and the CA, and the substantial harm thatdevelopment of The Area will have on the setting of the designated HAs.5.0 CONCLUSIONSThe Area is located immediately adjacent to two designated heritage assets, the HewellConservation Area and the Hewell Grange RPG (Grade II*) and would be within thesetting of both. The significance of both assets and their setting has been outlinedabove.National planning policy requires that any harm or loss to the significance of designatedheritage assets requires clear and convincing justification. Substantial harm to or loss ofdesignated assets of the highest significance, including a Grade II* RPG, should bewholly exceptional (Paragraph 132).The analysis carried out in this document has demonstrated that development in TheArea would cause substantial harm to the significance and setting of major assets. TheArea should therefore not be allocated.Page | 22