Welcome to Bath Preservation Trust
Our website is constantly being updating with material which is important and interesting to those who care about Bath. Please send us any photographs of buildings or locations in and around the city which you feel would be of interest, and which we could publish on our site. Our email details can be found on the Contact Us page.
BATH PRESERVATION TRUST AND ENGLISH HERITAGE CALL FOR BUILDING HEIGHTS GUIDANCE FOR BATH
The following is a copy of a press release issued by Bath Preservation Trust on 21st May 2008:
Bath Preservation Trust has called on Bath and North East Somerset Council to produce supplementary planning guidance on buildings heights in Bath, in line with English Heritage recommendations.
Bath has not yet responded to English Heritage’s call in 2007 to all Councils, especially those in historically sensitive areas, to draw up specific guidance to developers about the heights of buildings. A key feature of the universal values of the World Heritage site is the homogeneity of the low-rise buildings and the landscape setting of the City. At a national conference on tall buildings held in Oxford last Friday (16th May), Charles Wagner, Head of Planning and Regeneration Policy at English Heritage, outlined the risks to local authorities of operating without such a policy, saying that tall buildings have a significant impact on their setting and that it was the responsibility of a local authority to ensure that they are built, if at all, in the right places and to the highest quality, and with an understanding of site and context. Such policies, he said, also need to take account view analysis: ‘is it the right building in the right place’. English Heritage has recently criticised B&NES for not having such a policy in its response to plans for Twerton Mill where the Historic Areas Advisor, David Stuart stated that “ it seems clear that there are a number of sites in the western part of the city which in principle lend themselves to redevelopment of some form. At present, the absence of a framework to establish some broad development principles, such as building heights, allows each site to come forward on an individual ad hoc basis, making it difficult to provide helpful and effective advice, and without a regime within which a series of schemes can be promoted and decisions made with confidence.”
He continues, “Whilst such a framework has been generated for the Western Riverside area (SPD), there exists a vacuum around it in terms of complementary coverage which could be positively filled”
Caroline Kay, Chief Executive of Bath Preservation Trust, said:
“We welcome the fact that English Heritage is highlighting the need for the Council to have a buildings heights policy, something that the Trust has emphasised before. The Bath Western Riverside proposals made all of Bath aware of the potential impact of 8-or 9-storey buildings on views in and out of the World Heritage site. Whilst none of these buildings is yet at detailed planning stage, we believe they and other high buildings should not be developed without City-wide policies on building height and view management from the city skyline. In the case of Western Riverside, there should be very clear design and aesthetic reasons, as well as economic, for breaching the general guidance of 4-6 storeys. Although a document has been produced within the Council explaining the landscape setting and indicating viewing corridors for the World Heritage Site, which was endorsed by the World Heritage Steering Group, this has not been translated into supplementary planning guidance and does not seem to be drawn to the attention of developers. In the absence of a policy from the Council, the Trust will consider working up its own proposals for the principles which should be used to assess appropriate building heights in Bath”.
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LOCALLY IMPORTANT BUILDINGS LIST
The draft Locally Important Buildings Supplementary Planning Document is out for public consultation from 10 April–22 May. Bath Preservation Trust’s formal response to this consultation will be added to our website shortly.
The local list will complement the existing statutory list of nationally important buildings, of both architectural and historic interest. The objective of the document is to raise the profile of and give recognition to buildings and structures that contribute to the character of the area. The document gives details on the selection criteria for locally important buildings and proposes how buildings will be nominated and considered for inclusion on the local list.
The Trust welcomes this new document and the opportunity for local residents and groups, who have detailed knowledge of their area and history, to nominate buildings they feel merit consideration. Once the document is adopted the Trust will encourage the public and its members to make nominations for buildings to be included directly to us, and if necessary we will use our Architecture and Planning Committee to undertake any additional research and/or provide information which meets the selection criteria. Bath & North East Somerset Council has asked representatives of the Trust to join a panel to assess the nominations for buildings of local importance.
Copies of the documents can be viewed in all public libraries in the district and in Council offices. Alternatively, they can be viewed on the Council’s website.
BATH WESTERN RIVERSIDE – Decision not to call in Planning Application
For details on the decision not to call in the Western Riverside planning application, visit the Western Riverside page.
To view the letter from the Government Office for the South West to the Council which sets out their reasons for deciding not to intervene click here.
Also on the Western Riverside page, read the views of the Prince of Wales, Bath Preservation Trust’s Patron, on the impact of tall buildings on sensitive historic sites.
ROYAL CRESCENT PAVING AND RAILINGS
With financial assistance from BPT and its members through the ‘Sponsor a Stone’ campaign, the funding is in place for new pennant paving on the lawn side of the Crescent. This project is now hinging on the success of securing funds for the railings as the two projects must be undertaken at the same time. To that end, the Royal Crescent Society has launched a further appeal for funds towards the restoration of the railings. Some funds are already in place from the Heritage Lottery Fund but there is still a shortfall. The first approaches have been to Royal Crescent freeholders. BPT is working with the Society on this campaign; Trustees have pledged £6,600 towards the railings project and we are accepting donations on behalf of the Society to help them reach their wider target.
For more information about the project see the Royal Crescent Society’s website.
The picture shows the park in front of the Royal Crescent used as allotments during the war years, when the haha was filled in with spoil.
e-newsletters
The Trust produces occasional e-newsletters covering matters of interest affecting the city and its environs. You can access them here: