The Society has a long-established interest in planning issues affecting the historic part of the town. Currently, a small group of members comments on planning applications as well as examining the various strategic documents affecting the town and its environs which have been prepared by local government. New Environment Group members are always needed.
Comments by Wymondham Heritage Society on the Wymondham Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Proposals
Please reply to: Wymondham Heritage Museum, 10 The Bridewell. Norwich Road, Wymondham, Norfolk NR18 0NS
The Society is in general satisfied with the appraisal document. It is well written, detailed and gives a good description of the town’s features. We have already raised a few questions of fact or detail with the conservation officer and will not repeat them here. We make the following comments:
Para 3.2 Conservation Area Boundary
Having attended the public meeting, we have a better understanding of the reasons for the extensions to the boundary, though these could be detailed more thoroughly in the document as the logic for including recent buildings is not immediately apparent. We would suggest a further extension of the Conservation Area to include Cemetery Lane with its terraced houses, the adjacent stretch of the Mid-Norfolk railway line and crossing cottage near Strayground Lane, the whole of Tolls Meadow, the cemetery and chapels, the railway station and buildings, including the signal box and the red phone box, right down to the junction at the Avenue Road traffic lights. This would relate well to the proposed boundary extension there and assist efforts to make this area an attractive and welcoming entry to the town centre if and when significant housing development takes place at Silfield or elsewhere.
Para 3.7 Street Furniture
We agree that there is a proliferation of street signs in certain places, notably in the Market Place where the black and white “antique” signs are in several cases duplicated by standard blue signs, especially in relation to the new library. There have been a number of other additions to Market Place, including the permanent erection of the posts for light and banner displays which we do feel add clutter to the street scene; there does not seem to be any procedure for considering the overall effect of such changes on it. WHS recognises that there are competing demands for different kinds of useful or decorative street furniture in such an environment and would be very happy to work with the appropriate different authorities as well as other local bodies to agree an improvement in the situation.
Para 9.4 Article 4 and Article 4 (2) Directions
This paragraph includes properties that are already subject to Article 4 Directions as well as those which are not. In many cases the features (usually windows) which contribute to the special character of the conservation area have already been replaced. The report needs to differentiate between the two types of area and consider this problem of incremental degradation. See also our comments on Appendix 1 and also on Page 20 Pople Street.
Appendix 1, page 16, Church Street
The second paragraph says that “the charming flint and brick cottage is hidden by the trees…”. This cottage is no longer so charming nor so hidden since the extensive works carried out by the new owners, in spite of the existence of an Article 4 direction on it and the neighbouring properties. Such unsympathetic changes are a test of the extent to which the conservation area can be protected, either by the availability of legal measure or of the staff resources to use them. Community action does have certain roles to play in this regard but negotiations with individual landowners over contraventions are generally outside them.
Page 20 Pople Street
This is one area where there has been a recent increase in the use of replacement uPVC windows, eroding the character of “good examples of the town’s 19th century housing.”
Conservation area status does nothing to protect such domestic buildings and this is perceived as a weakness in the legislation. Measures to improve and maintain appreciation of the importance of these features need to be used continuously (e g via inclusion in routine council literature sent to homes) rather than relying on householders seeking information. Again, WHS is willing to become involved in this initially. The sight of such damage to the conservation area leads people to wonder what the benefits of Conservation Area status are and raises once again the importance of political will and sufficient resources to carry out the recommendations for the improvement and protection of the area included in the report.
Irene Woodward
Chairman
Wymondham Heritage Society
22 January 2010