Policy information sourced from the Sutton Local Plan 2016-2031.

General

a. The council will conserve and, where practicable, enhance the borough’s historic environment. This comprises: Listed Buildings and structures, Scheduled Ancient Monuments, Conservation Areas, Historic Parks and Gardens, Areas of Special Local Character, Locally Listed Buildings and undesignated archaeological remains.

b. Development that has an impact upon a heritage asset will be expected to conserve and, where practicable, enhance its significance. The council will expect that new development integrates into the historic environment and will look for opportunities from new development affecting heritage assets and their settings to enhance or better reveal their significance.

c. Great weight will be given to conservation of Sutton’s heritage assets. Any harm to the significance of a designated or non-designated heritage asset, or their loss, must be justified. Proposals will be weighed against:

  1. the public benefits of the proposal.
  2. whether it has been demonstrated that all reasonable efforts have been made to sustain the existing use, find new uses or mitigate the extent of the harm to the significance of the asset.
  3. whether the works proposed are the minimum required to secure the long-term beneficial use and retain the significance and conservation of the asset.

d. Proposals likely to affect the significance of a heritage asset, including the contribution made by its setting, should be accompanied by a description of its significance in sufficient detail to allow the potential impacts to be adequately assessed.

Areas of Special Local Character

i. The council will:

  1. expect development within an Area of Special Local Character conserves and, where practicable, enhances those elements which contribute to the Area of Special Local Character’s particular character or appearance. These elements may include landscaped areas, gardens, trees, hedges and boundary treatments as well as the built form.
  2. expect development outside an Area of Special Local Character but which would affect an Area of Special Local Character to conserve and, where practicable, enhance those elements which contribute to the Area of Special Local Character’s particular character or appearance.

For Areas of Special Local Character see Appendix 8, Schedule 8.F, Maps 8.24-8.46 and Policies Map.