Agenda and minutes

To note any substitution of Panel Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rules.

The following substitution of Members was made in accordance with Council Procedure Rules:

Cllr Max Holloway for Cllr Rose Grewal

Cllr Julie Cragg for Cllr Sunny Thusu

Cllr Fiona Thomson for Cllr George Michaelides.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Grewal, Michaelides and Thusu.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2023 (previously circulated).

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2023 were confirmed as a correct record.

There were no items of urgent business.

To note declarations of Members’ disclosable pecuniary interests, non-disclosable pecuniary interests and non-pecuniary interests in respect of items on this Agenda.

Cllrs Kingsbury, Thomson and Zukowskyj declared non-pecuniary interests as Members of Hertfordshire County Council and Cllr Kingsbury further advised he lived in Danesbury.

Up to thirty minutes will be made available for questions from members of the public on issues relating to the work of the Committee and to receive any petitions.

There were no public questions or petitions.

Officers explained that national planning policy guidance required local planning authorities to review their conservation areas from time to time and determine whether any parts or further parts in their area should be designated as conservation areas. Essex Place Services had been commissioned as heritage based consultants to carry out a review of heritage assets in the borough; the existing conservation area and Welwyn Village had been reviewed, and a draft Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan had been produced. This sought to analyse the special architectural and historic interest of the Welwyn Village conservation area and identified opportunities for beneficial change and the need for additional protection. The boundaries of the conservation area had also been reconsidered; it was proposed several areas be removed from the conservation area as they were no longer considered to contribute to the special architectural and historic value of the conservation area. The assessment had been carried out in accordance with guidance and best practice guidance from Historic England.

Following consideration at Cabinet Planning and Parking Panel, it had been agreed to consult on the draft documents and there had been an 8 week consultation in line with the statement of community involvement, as well as a public drop-in session. The views of local residents, businesses, local interest groups and statutory consultees had been sought; 24 responses were received from a range of stakeholders and a summary report was included in Appendix 4. Overall, the document had been well received and there were no comments in objection to the publishing of the appraisal and management plan for Welwyn Village. In respect of the appraisal section of the documents, some requests had been made for additional detail or clarification including below-ground and non-heritage assets; inclusion of heritage, assets and wildlife sites; and additional views – there were also comments on the proposed character areas. In terms of the management plan section of the documents, comments were received about issues such as trees maintenance, drainage, archaeology, building heights, transport and parking, and the heritage trail. It had also been commented that residents needed to be aware of their obligations within a conservation area, particularly in relation to retrofitting climate change measures. In conjunction with Place Services, officers had reviewed all comments and amended the draft document as appropriate. A Frequently Asked Questions section had also been added.

In terms of the proposed boundary changes, a number of respondents had agreed with the changes including Historic England, while some did not fully agree and about half felt the conservation area should be enlarged, in particular to include the Danesbury Park estate. As a result, the proposed boundary had been reconsidered; to ensure the concept of conservation was not devalued, only those areas of sufficient special architectural or historic interest were included within the revised boundary, but areas outside the boundary might contribute to the setting of the conservation area. Some areas were now to remain such as the listed wall and listed milepost on Church Street.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.