To adopt the Local Heritage List Selection Criteria For Tewkesbury Borough Supplementary Planning Document with immediate effect. 

16.1           The report of the Planning Policy Manager, circulated at Pages No. 16-33, attached the Local Heritage List Selection Criteria for Tewkesbury Borough Supplementary Planning Document which Members were asked to adopt with immediate effect.

16.2           In proposing the recommendation, the Lead Member for Built Environment explained that the purpose of the Supplementary Planning Document was to establish a robust and standardised procedure for nominating to the local list with the significance of heritage assets on the list being taken into account. This was a national initiative which was being funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The document had already been considered by the Executive Committee which had recommended that it be adopted by the Council, subject to no substantive comments being made during the consultation process. No substantive comments had been received during the public consultation so the document was before the Council for adoption. It was also recommended that authority be delegated to the Head of Development Services to make any necessary final corrections and minor amendments to the draft Supplementary Planning Document to enable it to be published in final form. Under that delegation, a minor revision to the wording on Page No. 3 of the Supplementary Planning Document would be made to make it clear that the responsibility for all local heritage list matters would be delegated to the Head of Development Services.

16.3           During the discussion which ensued, a Member suggested that some of the pictures of the Borough within the document were not particularly flattering and he asked if any of them could be changed. In response, the Lead Member indicated that the photographs had been submitted as part of the process but Officers could look through and see if any changes could be made. She felt it was important to note the amazing amount of work that Parishes and members of the public had put into their submissions to the list and she thanked them for their efforts. She also noted that, whilst not all heritage assets were pretty, they were still important. Referring to Page No. 7 of the document, a Member noted that the metal bridge in Norton was actually in Northway and Ashchurch Rural so that needed to be amended. There was some discussion about the assets on the list which were in a state of untidiness or disrepair and Members were advised that the Council did not have a responsibility to maintain any of the assets as they were usually in private ownership – their addition to the list signified that people felt they were important but they were not the Council’s assets. A Member questioned whether Parishes would be asked to review the list annually to see if any assets needed to be added. In response, the Lead Member indicated that Parish Councils were aware of the list and that it could be added to at any time.

16.4           Having been proposed and seconded, it was

                  RESOLVED          1. That it be NOTED that no substantive comments had been                                received in response to the public consultation on the draft                                     Supplementary Planning Document: Local Heritage List                                                     Selection Criteria for Tewkesbury Borough or the related                               Consultation Statement.

                                                2. That the draft Supplementary Planning Document be                                          ADOPTED with immediate effect in accordance with the                                         resolution of the Executive Committee on 2 March 2022.

                                                3. That authority be delegated to the Head of Development                                    Services to make any necessary final corrections and minor                                   amendments to the draft Supplementary Planning Document                                to enable the document to be published in final form                                            including amendment to show a delegation to the Head of                             Development Services for all matters relating to the local                                                  heritage list.