3. GUIDANCE. Historic England

Conservation Areas

Schedule of Ancient Monuments

Historic England maintains a Schedule of Ancient Monuments and administers the listing of a wide range of designated heritage assets. These include, listed buildings, building preservation orders, certificates of immunity, scheduled monuments, parks and gardens, battlefields, protected wreck sites, world heritage sites-buffer zones and boundaries. The Forest of Dean district has a wealth of heritage assets and their conservation is central to decision making when planning a new settlement in the Forest of Dean district.

A listed building is a building that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest by Historic England. There are 1,563 listed buildings in the district protected for their architectural or historic value and there are three grades of listing:

• Grade-I (Buildings of exceptional, national interest: 43 in the district, including St Briavels Castle, Flaxley Abbey, Severn Bridge and 23 churches)

• Grade-II* (Buildings of outstanding interest nearer to Grade-I than Grade-II: 65 in the district, including fine examples of former country houses, churches, agricultural barns and industrial buildings)

• Grade-II (Buildings of special interest: 1472 in the district, including a number of chartist cottages listed for both their historical and sociology interest) (Historic England, 2023)

Heritage Character Assessments

The Forest of Dean District Council Heritage Character Assessment, 2019, offers a broad view of the heritage assets of the district, both designated and undesignated. The Heritage character assessment offers a broad overview of the wide range of heritage assets across the borough. The assessment provides an evidence base for making informed and balanced decisions on whether future development sites will have an impact (negative or positive) on the special historical features and the support assessment of the potential for enhancing/protecting these assets. This document is not as it states exhaustive and rather gives a flavour of the heritage of the district. It is an invaluable document in conjunction with Historic England’s Schedule of Ancient Monuments (SAMs) and referencing Conservation Area mapping and appraisals. All are referred to in more detail in the shortlisting of the specific site location process later in this document.

Conservation Areas are places of special architectural or historic interest, which have a particular character or appearance worthy of preservation or enhancement. Groups of buildings, walls, trees and hedges, open spaces, views and the historic settlement patterns all combine to create an individual sense of place. It is this character, rather than individual buildings, that conservation areas status seeks to protect.(FoDDC, Conservation Area, 2023) Under the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) conservation areas are designated heritage assets and their conservation is to be given great weight in planning permission decisions.(Historic England, 2023) this is carried through to local planning policy particularly in CSP.4 in reference to protecting the character of the landscape.

Historic parks and gardens

Parks and gardens of special historic interest are registered by English Heritage in a similar way to buildings of architectural or historic interest.

There are three parks and gardens of special historic interest in the Forest of Dean district:

• Clearwell Castle, Grade II

• Flaxley Abbey, Grade I

• Westbury Court, Grade II Development is not permitted that adversely affects the character, setting, amenities, historical context or views within, into or from a park or garden of historic interest. Applications involving a park or garden of historic interest need consultation with English Heritage. English heritage separated from Natural England in 2015 and is primarily responsible for management and access to heritage sites. (FODDC, Heritage Character Assessment, 2019)

Heritage is of particular economic importance within the region of the South West and particularly to the economy of the Forest of Dean. Celebrating and enhancing the heritage assets will be important to contributing to a sustainable economy for the new development.

The Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust is the largest conservation charity in the UK. It works to promote a better understanding of the environment across all sections of society and is particularly involved in education. It works with local government to get positive policies for trees and woods included in local plans, and to helps deliver and shape tree strategies, they lobby councillors, mayors and senior officers at all levels of local government. They help deliver on these policies by working with local authorities to plant trees, create woods and better protect existing woods and trees. They also work with parish and town councils to influence policies in their neighbourhood plans. (Woodland Trust,2023) the guidance the Woodland trust offer to support planning decisions is invaluable. Particularly their involvement in education. In line with eco towns and garden communities approach education about the conservation of the natural environment of the new settlement will be a key component of the success of the new settlement. Also in the planting and nature of the green infrastructure of the site which is 50% of the whole. One such intervention is Agroforestry.

Agroforestry is a land management approach that combines trees and shrubs with crop and livestock farming systems. This practice delivers a multitude of benefits both for the farm and for nature. But it is yet to realise its full potential. The settlement will be build on green infrastructure an this impact can be mitigated by encouraging agroforestry practices on surrounding land and bringing woodland into the development itself. Currently 3% of farms practice agroforestry , an increase to 10% could, it is estimated, will contribute towards meeting climate change targets. this also support the laying of hedges which are a feature of the design of the new settlements green infrastructure as they are part of an ancient agroforestry tradition. Together with hedgerow trees and other field edge habitats, they form an extensive habitat network that's crucial to wildlife and defines our landscapes. They provide lots of practical benefits including protecting livestock from weather extremes, aiding biosecurity, mitigating flooding, and enhancing soil, carbon and water resources. (Woodland Trust, 2023)