Policy information sourced from the Mole Valley Local Plan

EN6: HERITAGE ASSETS

1. When conserving and enhancing designated and non-designated heritage assets, the Council will have regard to the impact of new development on their fabric, integrity and significance, and their settings. Relevant heritage assets and designations are set out on the Policies Map. The following factors will be taken into consideration when assessing the impact of any development proposals:

  • Achieving the appropriate repair of heritage assets and securing their long term viability;
  • The significance and importance of the asset;
  • The contribution to local identity and distinctiveness, including their wider significance to the architectural, cultural, artistic, social, economic life of the community;
  • The degree to which proposals conserve and enhance heritage assets and their settings;
  • The opportunities created to provide public access, understanding and enjoyment of heritage assets, for example through appropriate information signs and plaques; and,
  • The cumulative impact of the proposals on heritage assets having regard to other relevant developments past and present.

Archaeology
2. Development proposals affecting Scheduled Monuments, County Sites of Archaeological Importance and Areas of High Archaeological Potential, as identified on the Policies Map, must be informed by a desk-based assessment and, where investigations advise it: a field evaluation, excavation and post-excavation assessment. Subsequent reporting, archiving and publication should form part of the Surrey Historic Environment Record.

3. Great weight will be placed on the conservation of archaeological assets. Development proposals that would harm them will be required to justify their proposals in line with guidance in the National Planning Policy Framework.

4. Outside County Sites of Archaeological Importance and Areas of High Archaeological Potential, the results of a desk-based archaeological assessment must be submitted with any development proposals for a site larger than 0.4ha. If the results of any desk-based assessment are inconclusive, or if they produce evidence of significant archaeological remains, then section 2 of this policy will be applicable.

Listed Buildings and Structures
5. Development proposals affecting Listed Buildings and Structures, as set out in Appendix 4 and 6, and their setting must be accompanied by a well-informed heritage statement that sets out a heritage asset’s significance, which includes its history, architecture, construction and materials and the impact of any proposal on that significance.

6. Development proposals that result in substantial harm to or a loss of a:

  • Grade I and II* Listed Building or Structure will not be permitted unless the circumstances are wholly exceptional and fully justified in terms of the substantial public benefits that would outweigh the harm or loss and where there is an absence of alternative, less damaging options.
  • Grade II Listed Building or Structure will not be permitted unless the circumstances are exceptional and fully justified in terms of the substantial public benefits that would outweigh the harm or loss and where there is an absence of alternative, less damaging options.

7. Development proposals that result in less than substantial harm to a Grade I, Grade II* and Grade II Listed Building or Structure will not be permitted unless the public benefits of the proposals outweigh the harm to the asset’s significance.

8. Applicants will be required to make a record of significant architectural details and structures in circumstances where their loss is permitted and ensure that the record is made publicly available as part of the Surrey Historic Environment Record.

Registered Historic Parks and Gardens
9. Development proposals that result in substantial harm to or loss of a:

  • Grade I and Grade II* Registered Historic Park or Garden, as set out on the Policies Map, will not be permitted unless the circumstances are wholly exceptional and fully justified in terms of the substantial public benefits that would outweigh the harm or loss and where there is an absence of alternative, less damaging options.
  • Grade II Registered Historic Park or Garden, as set out on the Policies Map, will not be permitted unless the circumstances are exceptional and fully justified in terms of the substantial public benefits that would outweigh the harm or loss and where there is an absence of alternative, less damaging options.

10. Development proposals that result in less than substantial harm to a Grade I, Grade II* and Grade II Registered Historic Park and Garden will not be permitted unless the public benefits of the proposals outweigh the harm to the asset’s significance.

Conservation Areas
11. The Council will keep the boundaries of designated Conservation Areas, as set out in Appendix 7 and on the Policies Map, under regular review and revise boundaries and designate new Conservation Areas in line with Section 69 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

12. The Council will keep under regular review the boundaries of areas covered by Article 4 directions in Conservation Areas and consider their application to new areas in line with the General Permitted Development Order 2015 (as amended).

13. Proposals resulting in the partial or total demolition of buildings or structures in a Conservation Area will be treated as either substantial harm or less than substantial harm as appropriate. Account will be taken of:

  • The relative significance of the building or structure and its contribution to the Conservation Area; and,
  • Whether the replacement buildings or structures will contribute positively to the special character and appearance of the Conservation Area in which it is set.

14. Proposals for new development, extensions and alterations to existing buildings, applications for changes of use and advertisements within Conservation Areas will:

  • Be of high design quality;
  • Make a positive contribution to and respect the character and appearance of the conservation in which it is set;
  • Not harm the elements that make a positive contribution to the Conservation Area;
  • Respect important views into and out of the conservation area;
  • Respect local traditions of design, form and massing, scale and use of materials;
  • Have regard to the traditional patterns of plot and road layouts;
  • Protect trees and open spaces that reinforce local distinctiveness;
  • Conserve or restore features such as boundary walls and hedges, doors, windows and chimneys; and,
  • Have regard to published conservation area appraisals and management plans.

Non Designated Heritage Assets
15. Surrey County Council has compiled a Local List which identifies buildings and other features and structures within the District that have a degree of heritage significance meriting consideration in planning decisions but which do not meet the criteria for designated heritage assets (see Appendix 5).

16. Proposals leading to the alteration or loss of a non-designated heritage asset will be considered on the basis of its architectural, archaeological, cultural and historic significance and contribution to the community, set against the scale of any harm or loss.

Heritage at Risk
17. The Council will monitor the annual Heritage at Risk Register, compiled by Historic England, and work proactively with the owners of heritage assets listed on the register to find solutions for their long-term restoration, maintenance and beneficial use.

For more information please see the Mole Valley Local Plan