Cultural Heritage and Design
The protection and enhancement of the Broads’ rich and varied architectural heritage is an essential part of the planning function.
The provision of specialist technical advice is essential when considering works of repair or alteration. Historic buildings and their environs are important assets that can all too easily be irrevocably damaged or lost.
Listed Buildings
There are three grades of listed buildings: Grade I, Grade II* and Grade II. Grade I buildings are considered of exceptional interest, Grade II* buildings of particular importance, more than special interest, and Grade II buildings of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve them.
English Heritage is responsible for the listing of properties. All properties English Heritage inspects are judged according to a set of national standards. Very broadly, the criteria encompass age, rarity and importance. Particular attention is paid to buildings of special value, either for architectural or planning reasons or illustrating social, cultural, military or economic history; architectural interest and aesthetic merits; and buildings showing technological innovation or historic importance. Buildings can also be considered as of group value, such as squares or terraces.
Additional controls over works of repair or alteration to these properties, through the ‘Listed Building Consent’ application process, give the Authority the opportunity to influence the way in which it look after the area’s heritage. There are over 250 Listed Buildings within the Broads, including a number of important wind mills and wind pumps that have a deep association with the landscape of the area.
Building Preservation Notices (BPNs) and requests for ‘spot listing’
BPNs may be served in respect of buildings that are not ‘listed’ but are thought, by the Broads Authority, to be worthy of listing. The notice lasts 6 months while English Heritage decides whether or not to ‘list’. During that time, the buildings are deemed to be ‘listed’. In the event that the request to list is not considered to be urgent, a request for ‘spot listing’ may be made direct to the listing branch of English Heritage. The building will be assessed and, if it qualifies, added to the statutory list. More information is available on the English Heritage website at www.english-heritage.org.uk.
Historic Buildings at Risk
A ‘Building at Risk’ (BaR) is a building that has been identified as an historic building at risk through neglect and decay. Buildings at Risk range from those that are virtually on the point of collapse to those that are just a bit ragged around the edges, and include vacant and inhabited buildings.
The term ‘Building at Risk’ also applies to historic buildings which are not yet listed, or within a conservation area, but which make an important contribution to their overall rural or urban landscape that does not necessarily merit their individual listing.
A Building At Risk Register, published annually by English Heritage, brings together information on all Grade I and II listed buildings and scheduled monuments (structures rather than earthworks) known to English Heritage to be ‘at risk' through neglect and decay, or vulnerable to becoming so. Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils also produce their own Registers, which includes Grade I and Grade II Buildings at Risk together with Ruined Churches at Risk.
In dealing with a building at risk, the Broads Authority will aim to persuade owners to carry out essential repairs in order to protect the building. Powers exist to serve a ‘Repairs Notice’ or an ‘urgent works notice’, to require certain works to be carried out. This work can be carried out by the Authority and the costs reclaimed from the owner.
Conservation Areas
Conservation Areas are areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance. There are 23Conservation Areas within the Broads (as at September 2009) and a programme is in place to review each one.
The designation provides control over demolition of buildings and works to trees.
Wroxham Conservation Area
(pdf document) [2027kb]
Trees and countryside
The Broads is a distinctive area of Britain’s premier wildlife county. It contains landscape elements found nowhere else in the country and an impressive variety of trees, hedges and woodlands.
As the Local Planning Authority, the Broads Authority has a statutory obligation to protect important amenity trees and hedges. These may be protected by Conservation Area designation or by Tree Preservation Orders (TPO). TPOs are usually made where there is a perceived threat to important trees. The process is commonly triggered by public awareness, planning applications or changes of ownership.
No owner should permit pruning or felling of a protected tree without the prior approval of the Authority. Application forms are available from the Authority or on the website. There is a maximum period of determination of six weeks for Conservation Area and hedge enquiries and eight weeks for TPOs.
The Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (NERC) 2006 places a duty on the Authority to have regard for the conservation of biodiversity in the exercise of its functions.
