Conservation
Assistant Conservation Officer
Vacancy
Bromsgrove is an attractive rural district of North
Worcestershire, with an ancient market town at its centre, almost
500 listed buildings and 10 designated conservation areas. Our
district is about 13 miles south of Birmingham and north of
Worcester and has a diverse range of historic architecture from
timber framed cottages and barns to Georgian mansions and Victorian
gothic churches.
We are looking for an enthusiastic individual to work as part of a
team of planning professionals, safeguarding Bromsgrove’s heritage
and contributing to the regeneration of our historic town centre.
Your role will include providing advice on development proposals,
giving guidance to owners of historic buildings, and preparing
conservation area character appraisals. We also hope to complete
our listed building at risk surveys for the district and establish
a formal local list with your help.
For more information click on the
following
link.
Current Consultation – Proposed New
Hewell Grange Conservation Area
The Council is currently carrying out
a formal consultation on the proposed designation of a new
Conservation Area at Hewell Grange. The draft boundary map and
character appraisal can be viewed through the links below:
If you have any comments or queries on
the proposed designation, the draft boundary, the character
appraisal or the management and enhancement proposals within
Appendix 3 please contact Judith Carstairs on 01527 881326 or email
conservation@bromsgrove.gov.uk
by Friday 30th July. We are also
holding an informal drop in meeting at the Hewell Bowling Club on
Holyoakes Lane on Thursday 1st July from 3pm to 7pm to
answer any questions local residents may have on the proposed
designation and the recent changes to the Tree Preservation Orders
covering parts of the area.
Frontage Improvement Grant
Scheme
The Council is now offering grant assistance
for repairs and improvement works to the front of buildings within
the Bromsgrove Town Conservation Area. The first phase of the grant
program is targeted to No’s 61-97 High Street (odd properties only)
between Church Street and Mill Lane which is an important cluster
of historic buildings. Grants are normally given at 80% of the
costs of the works up to a maximum of £4000 per property, and must
be spent before the end of March 2011. For further details of the
grant scheme and an application form please follow the links
below:
Or contact Judith Carstairs, Conservation
Officer on 01527 881326 or email conservation@bromsgrove.gov.uk
Listed Buildings
There are currently 467 Listed
Buildings in the Bromsgrove District. A Listed Building is a
building or structure which is included on the national statutory
register because of its architectural or historic interest and
protects the entire building inside and out, including any later
extensions. The document attached below has details of all the
Listed Buildings within our district organised by parish.
Listed Buildings by
Parish
There are three grades of listing I,
II* and II, the most important buildings being listed as Grade I.
English Heritage is responsible for the addition of buildings to
the national register, although any member of the public can submit
a request for listing. For further details on how buildings are
listed and how to make a listing request please go to
English Heritage
The statutory list descriptions
produced for each Listed Building are available online through the
Heritage Gateway (see link below). Please note the list description
is only intended to be used for identification purposes and is not
a summary of what features are important or protected. Any
outbuildings or ancillary structures within the curtilage such as
garden walls or stores built before 1st July 1948 are
also protected within the listing and are commonly known as
curtilage listed buildings.
Heritage
Gateway
A special type of Planning Permission
called Listed Building Consent is required from the Council to
alter, extend or demolish any part of a listed building or
curtilage listed building including internal alterations. Consent
may also be
required for large scale refurbishment schemes where this would
result in substantial replacement of historic fabric for example
complete re-roofing in new slates or rebuilding walls with new
brickwork. Consent may also sometimes be required for cosmetic
works which alter the appearance of the building such as painting
in a different colour or repointing. Like for like repairs to
match the existing materials and appearance do not usually require
formal consent. For further guidance on appropriate methods of
repair please contact the Conservation section, or follow the link
to the English
Heritage Practice Guide which accompanies PPS5 for national guidance on alterations to and
repair of listed buildings.
Standard Planning Permission would
also be required for any alterations or extensions which affect the
appearance of the building and for the erection of gates, fences or
walls which enclose the listed building in some way. New
development in the grounds of a listed building will normally need
Planning Permission, but w
ill only need
Listed Building Consent if it is physically attached to the listed
building.
Building Regulations approval is not
a substitute for Planning Permission or Listed Building
Consent
It is a criminal offence to carry out
works to a listed building without the benefit of Listed Building
Consent, and formal enforcement action including prosecution can be
taken against the owner, architect and contractors involved in the
unauthorised works. It is important therefore that you discuss any
proposals to alter a listed building with the Council before
commencing works. Forms for all types of Planning Permission are
available online through the Planning Portal:
Make an application.
Statements of Significance
From 23rd March 2010 a Statement of Significance must
be submitted for all types of applications relating to heritage
assets including works to listed buildings, scheduled monuments or
locally listed buildings, and developments in conservation areas
and landscape protection areas. A heritage asset does not have to
be formally designated by the Council but should have some
identifiable architectural, historic, archaeological or artistic
interest.
This statement is in addition to a Design and Access Statement
and planning applications which are not accompanied by a Statement
of Significance will not be validated. Further guidance on the
content expected is available within
PPS5 Planning for the Historic Environment and the accompanying
English Heritage/DCMS Practice Guide.
Listed Buildings at Risk
Owners of listed buildings have a
legal obligation to keep them wind and water tight. Formal action
can be taken by the Council in the form of an Urgent Works Notice
or Repairs Notice to ensure the preservation of a listed building.
A national register of heritage sites at risk is produced annually
by English Heritage and includes ancient monuments, Grade I and II*
Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas at risk. From our District
two listed buildings, six scheduled monuments and the registered
historic park at Hewell Grange are included on
the 2009
"Heritage at Risk" Register.
The Council is about to commence a
survey of all the listed buildings in the district to identify any
other Buildings at Risk. This will be done on a parish by parish
basis over the next 12 months. Formal notification letters will be
sent to the owner/occupier of each listed building explaining the
survey aims and parameters before we visit your property.
VAT and Listed Buildings
VAT paid on goods and services related
to alterations to a Listed Building can be reclaimed from HM
Revenue and Customs provided that Listed Building Consent was
granted for the work. This only applies to certain types of
alterations which are zero rated, as repairs normally don't require
consent from the Council. To reclaim the VAT owners will need to
provide copies of their receipts, their Listed Building Consent
approval notice and a copy of the statutory list description for
their building. For further information on VAT and Listed Buildings
please go to Para 9.22 through the following
link.
Shopfronts and
Advertisements
The Council has an adopted
Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) on Shopfronts and
Advertisements including specific guidance for historic buildings
and areas. Internally illuminated signage is not normally permitted
on Listed Buildings or within Conservation Areas. The number of
signs permitted may also be reduced to minimise clutter on an
elevation and lessen the accumulative effect of signage in the
streetscene. Materials such as perspex, acrylic or uncoated
aluminium and the addition of solid external roller shutters are
unlikely to be granted consent. For further information
please contact our Development Management section or follow the
links below to access our adopted SPG and the national government
advice on advertisements:
Shopfronts and Advertisement Design Guide 
Outdoor advertisements and signs: a guide for advertisers.
Conservation Areas
There are 10 Conservation Areas within
the Bromsgrove District which are designated as having special
architectural or historic interest. Details of our current
designations and links to any public documents are included in the
table below.
A special type of Planning Permission
called Conservation Area Consent is required for the total or
substantial demolition of any building over 115m3 in size, the
demolition of a boundary wall over 1m in height next to the highway
or 2m elsewhere and the removal of any agricultural building
constructed before 1914. There is a general presumption against the
loss of buildings which make a positive contribution to the
character or appearance of the Conservation Area.
When assessing applications for
Planning Permission within designated Conservation Areas, the
Council must pay special regard to the desirability of preserving
or enhancing the character or appearance of the Conservation Area.
This does not mean that new development will necessarily be
opposed, only that this should not harm the 
interest of
the wider Conservation Area.
Some permitted development rights
(works which normally don't require Planning Permission) are
restricted in Conservation Areas including the erection of dormer
windows, satellite dishes and replacement signage. For
further advice on permitted development rights please contact our
Development Management Team. Additional controls are also placed
over trees within a Conservation Area, meaning that an owner must
submit a formal notification of works to the Council six weeks
before starting work.
Scheduled Monuments
There are 13 Scheduled Monuments
within the Bromsgrove District (most of which are either moated
sites or historic religious centres) and 839 sites of some
archaeological interest. Scheduled Monuments are designated by
English Heritage and formal Scheduled Monument Consent is required
from them for any works including repairs. Advice on the management
and maintenance of archaeological sites is available from
Worcestershire County Council at:
Historic Environment and Archaeology Service
Registered Historic Parks 
and Gardens
There are two registered historic
parks in Bromsgrove District, Hagley Park which is Grade I and
Hewell Grange which is Grade II*. Although inclusion of an historic
park or garden in the national register brings no additional
planning controls, the registration is a material consideration
when assessing applications for Planning Permission. English
Heritage is responsible for the addition of historic parks to the
register, for further information on how to submit a park for
inclusion please follow the
link.
Locally Listed Buildings
Locally listed buildings are those
properties outside of Conservation Areas which still have some
architectural or historic merit, but do not meet the standards for
national listing. These buildings have no legal protection against
demolition but some local authorities produce a formal list of
local interest buildings which may have weight in planning decision
making and at planning appeal. The Council does not currently have
a formal local list, but is planning to produce a draft local list
which will be subject to public consultation in the future.
If you need any further advice or
guidance on the historic built environment, please contact the
Conservation Officer on:
For advice on trees within
Conservation Areas or covered by a Tree Preservation Order please
contact 01527 881320 or email trees@bromsgrove.gov.uk
Sources of Further Information
