DEFRA Vs HOUSING

CONSERVATION?

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Great Crested Newts are a protected species, but will conservation law be enough to stop the voracious appetite of developers and a government strapped for cash, from ignoring the duty to conserve and act sustainably, in the quest to concrete over the countryside - come what may?

Herstmonceux village is struggling to cope with additional traffic, as a link road between dozens of housing developments have been granted consents, without dealing with the core infrastructure issue. Simple put the A271 is not suitable for this kind of increase in traffic. Not without a bypass of the village. The worry being that these houses are not affordable units, such as may justify additional burdens on threadbare services.

Of course we need sustainable housing, but not at the cost of endangering species and making life intolerable for road users in and around the village. It is a potential battle royal between departments, as Steve Reed of DEFRA will be fighting to protect the natural environment, whereas Angela Rayner is aiming for more than a million homes in England. We can only hope that a sensible balance will be agreed. Ways to provide low cost quality housing, in suitable places, such as not to further erode the narrow tarmac between towns.

Genuinely affordable units, rather than executive homes for landlords to rent for profit, tend to catch those starting out in life in a rental trap, where they cannot pay those rents without help from the benefits system, which in turn is bankrupting many councils. In particular those who have not secured land for low cost (self-build or social) housing.

A pond habitat has to be mature to support Herons and Ducks. This picture is of a Heron in Lime Park. In the second pond, there are Great Crested Newts. The area also features Toads, Fish and Moorhens. A Heron was seen on ice this (January) when the pond froze over. Our conservationist was too slow to get a picture.

These pictures were taken of a toad in Lime Park in September 2022. They are a regular feature in Lime Park, somehow finding their way into an outbuilding at the Museum every year, and they are most welcome.

Toads spend most of their adult lives on land, only returning to ponds to breed. It's natural for them to explore and inhabit terrestrial habitats, including areas near human dwellings.

Toads have permeable skin and are prone to drying out. Outbuildings, especially those with damp areas, crevices, or shaded spots, provide ideal refuge from the sun and dry air. They offer a cool, humid environment that helps toads retain moisture.

During the colder months, toads seek safe and frost-free places to hibernate. Outbuildings, such as sheds, garages, and cellars, can offer suitable overwintering sites, with spaces under floorboards, in piles of wood, or within cracks in walls. The field and Museum building is also home to Bumble Bees, and the surrounding trees; Bats.

Official government advice is to refuse applications with the potential to harm protected species, but if nobody objects, proposals that are defective in terms of surveys, etc., are likely to be passed. So, please, if you like the local ecology and would prefer that the wildlife presently enjoyed is conserved for future generations, write to your local member, and/or Wealden District Council's planning department to have your say.

THE TWO ENDANGERED PONDS - ALREADY SUFFERING FROM A LOSS OF WATER FLOW DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE, THE PROPOSAL TO DIVERT SURFACE WATER FROM THE ADJACENT FIELD IS TANTAMOUNT TO A DEATH SENTENCE FOR THE FLORA AND FAUNA THAT PRESENTLY ENJOYS THE HABITAT. YOU CAN WALK THE FIELDS AND SEE POND NUMBER ONE, THAT FEEDS POND NUMBER TWO - WHICH IS NOT VISIBLE FROM PUBLIC FOOTPATHS. BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, GOOGLE MAPS SHOWS THESE BODIES OF WATER - WHICH YOU CAN CHECK FOR YOURSELVES. THESE ARE THE SAME GEOGRAPHICAL AREA, IN DIFFERENT VIEWS: MAPS & SATELLITE.

POISON WATER SUPPLY - THEN THERE IS THE MATTER OF THE ANCIENT WELL THAT IS THE ONLY SOURCE OF WATER FOR HERSTMONCEUX MUSEUM, THE PROPOSED HOUSES, CONTAMINATION FROM HERBICIDES, PESTICIDES AND HYDROCARBONS IS A CRIMINAL VIOLATION OF THE 'OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT OF 1861' SECTIONS 23 AND 24 - IN THE MAKING. ALL THOSE HELPING THE OWNERS OF THE FIELD SUPPLYING THE WELL, MIGHT WELL BE GUILTY OF A CONSPIRACY IN THE MATTER.

Now that is what we call rewilding. The oak tree in the middle of this field, and others dotted around the perimeter have been seeding rather well. The tall grass and other shrubs are providing homes for much wildlife. The hope is that, apart from footpaths and historic rights of way, that this becomes a focal point for family walks, ramblers, hikers and dog walkers in the village of Herstmonceux.

PERCENTAGE OF CONSERVATION AREAS IN ENGLAND

As of 2019, 2.2% of England making up 2,938 km2 (1,134 sq mi) is a conservation area, 59% of which are rural, and 41% are in urban areas.

The current legislation in England and Wales, the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (sections 69 and 70), defines the quality of a conservation area as being: "the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance". 

TYPES

Conservation areas can be found across a wide a range of urban and rural UK locations. For example, in the historic centres of town and cities such as Alexandra Palace and Park; model housing estates; historic mining, fishing and transport areas e.g. Crosby Garrett; and rural villages such as Osmotherley.

It is the role of the listed building process to protect individual buildings, and it is common for many listed buildings to also be located within designated conservation areas where those individual buildings make a contribution to the special architectural or historic character of the area.

Current Government planning policy on conservation areas is laid down (for England) mainly in section 12 'Conserving and enhancing the historic environment' of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and (for Wales) in Welsh Office Circular 61/96 – Planning and the Historic Environment: Historic Buildings and Conservation Areas.

There are additional planning controls over certain works carried out within the conservation area. For example, demolition within conservation areas requires consent. The designation does not preclude development from taking place, but does require that developments preserve or enhance the historic character of the area, for example by ensuring that newly constructed buildings are of a high quality design. Conservation area status also removes some permitted development rights that apply in undesignated areas.

In England, conservation area consent was abolished by the ERR Act (1) and replaced with a requirement for planning permission for demolition of a building in a conservation area (1). In Wales, the requirement for conservation area consent remains. The circumstances in which such planning permission is required and the consequences of failing to apply for it when it is needed are the same as applied to conservation area consent.

Who has ever heard of a Bakery with electric machinery when horse drawn deliveries were the norm? Herstmonceux had electricity well before most large towns, because of Major Charles de Roemer, who also manufactured seaplanes for the British Admiralty (Royal Navy) in Eastbourne, from 1911 to 1924. Lime Park had the benefit of a stables, coach house and forge for a farrier. A farrier is a specialised blacksmith who makes shoes for horses, out of wrought iron or steel.

DESIGNATION

Local authorities are chiefly responsible for designating conservation areas. They can designate any area of 'special architectural or historic interest' whose character or appearance is worth protecting or enhancing. Local and regional criteria are used, rather than any national standard. In exceptional circumstances, Historic England can designate conservation areas in London, but it has to consult the relevant Borough Council and obtain the consent of the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport. The Secretary of State can also designate in exceptional circumstances – usually where the area is of more than local interest.

Local authorities have additional powers under planning legislation to control changes to buildings in a conservation area that might usually be allowed without planning permission in other locations, for example changing the appearance of windows, adding external cladding or putting up satellite dishes.

Large conservation areas are sometimes subdivided into identity areas, which cover groups of buildings and features having similar character and appearance.

Enforcement of conservation areas varies, dependent on the resources and priorities of the local authority, and many fail to meet expectations. A conservation area may have a conservation area advisory committee, a non-elected body of people, some of whom may be expert, who are concerned about the conservation in the particular area. Historic England maintains an "at risk" register which includes conservation areas.

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