7

BOROUGH OF POOLE

LOCAL ECONOMY OVERVIEW GROUP

8 March 2007

BROADSTONE CONSERVATION AREAS APPRAISALS: TUDOR ROAD; AND RIDGEWAY AND BROADSTONE PARK

1.0 Purpose:

1.1 To present the draft Conservation Area Appraisals (CAAs) on two Conservation Areas (CAs) in Broadstone to be agreed for public consultation.

2.0Recommendation

2.1 That LEOG Members support the draft Broadstone Conservation Areas Character Appraisals and Management Plan:

2.2 That officers be instructed to proceed with the public consultation and report back findings to LEOG at the earliest opportunity.

3.0 Background:

3.1 The BVPI 219 requires that LAs produce up to date CAAs for the CAs in their area within a five year period.

3.2 Conservation Area Appraisals provide a framework for understanding and managing historic areas in keeping with their architectural and historic interest; they can improve the quality of developments, enable improvements and changes that are well considered and informed and support planning policies and guidance. A programme of producing CAAs was agreed by LEOG on 22.11.06 and by cabinet in December.

3.3 Ward Members for Broadstone have not raised any issues with the draft document.

3.4 Members of LEOG and local Ward Members have been given the opportunity for an accompanied site visit.

4.0 The Outcomes of the Programme:

4.1 Complete character appraisals and management plans for 21 CAs within the next 5 years in order to meet BVPI 219A, B and C;

4.2 Raise public awareness and gain public support for the CA Appraisals of the special character and the benefits of living in a conservation areas to foster appreciation and involvement in the care and stewardship of the areas;

4.3 Provide new and up to date assessments of the special architectural and historic interest of all conservation areas and review their boundaries for relevance and accuracy;

4.4 Protect the setting of statutorily listed buildings and identify buildings that contribute to the local character of conservation areas to ensure that the value of their architectural and historic character is considered when developments are proposed;

4.5 Provide supporting evidence for local planning policies and Supplementary Planning Documents;

4.6 Devise an agreed management strategy across all relevant services which will preserve and enhance the character of conservation areas;

4.7 Produce easily accessible and effective public documents.

5.0 Local Development Framework:

5.1 The Local Development Framework will balance the need for home, jobs and other facilities against the background of ensuring that what is unique about Poole is retained. More detailed policies on character may be produced through Local Development Documents, either as Development Plan Documents or for tailoring development to specific locations or as Supplementary Planning Documents where an expansion on how policies will be implemented is needed. CAAs provide evidence to support these documents and contribute to the formulation of new policies.

5.2 The LDF is not a free for all for development but offers a managed process allowing changes where needed without causing adverse impacts on any one group or areas of acknowledged importance.

6.0 Summary: Broadstone Conservation Areas: Ridgeway/BroadstonePark and Tudor Road CAA

6.1 The draft Broadstone CAA document is the first of the appraisals which

were the subject of the LEOG Report of 22.11.06. Two CAs on Tudor Road and the Ridgeway/Broadstone Park have been combined into one document together with Management Options.

6.2 The designation of the Ridgeway/Broadstone Park CA in 2004

demonstrated how effective such designations are in improving the quality of developments on sites such as Audlem Lodge (2-4 Ridgeway Road) which was saved from demolition after it was identified as one of the earliest Victorian properties in the area.

6.3 Broadstone has a distinctive core of properties with historic buildings

of very good quality that represent the origins of a settlement and distinguish a place that has grown to be a large suburban area on the urban/rural fringe of the Borough.

6.4 Key Issues:

  • Recommend retaining all buildings on the List of Buildings of Local Importance and buildings contributing to the character of the area by adding architectural, historical and/ or group value.
  • Seven buildings are recommended to include in the List of Buildings of Local Importance.
  • Maintain the wooded slopes and natural character of the Ridgeway.
  • Retain architectural character and traditional building materials and unaltered features through planning decisions, guidance and Article 4 directions.
  • Retain traditional boundary treatments.
  • Improve landscape treatments of front gardens by resisting applications for dropped kerbs and non-permeable paving and providing guidance.
  • Landscape enhancements to Borough owned properties at Broadstone School (schoolyard), Youth Club, Broadstone Park (opening up old views).
  • Highway improvements at “gateway entrances” to make areas more pedestrian friendly (Moor Road, Station Approach and Dunyeats shops)
  • Encourage actions to improve biodiversity in private gardens.
  • Add a monitoring programme to allow for annual reviews of the effectiveness of CAAs when used for planning decisions/ appeal cases.

7.0 Suggested Extension:Tudor Road:

7.1 A major extension is suggested for the Tudor Road area to include the area north of Dunyeats Road up to Moor Road with the key historic buildings of Broadstone First School, Millbourne House (former library) and the former Railway Hotel on the Station Approach (opposite the Leisure Centre). This area reflects the origins of this settlement’s history more clearly and gives the Conservation Area more meaning.

7.2 The area includes some public buildings of good quality that contribute to the function and character of Broadstone. The parade of shops at the entrance to Dunyeats Road and Moor Road/Tudor Road define the limits of this small enclave. These properties developed around an important railway station on the historic regional rail network with links to London and the south-west at Broadstone (on the site of the Leisure Centre). The station was demolished in the late 1960’s. This is an opportunity to recognise the railway history of the area and the history of the community that grew up around it.

7.3The quality of the streetscape on Tudor Road north of Dunyeats Road is

variable though it has buildings with a characteristic low scale that allow views out to a heavily treed skyline that serve a range of community functions that reflect the social history of the area. Mature street trees maintain a continuous landscape feature from Tudor Road, south of Dunyeats.

7.4 Two options for the extension of boundaries present opportunities to

enhance and preserve the existing Conservation Area.

Option 1: Extend the area to include the Broadstone First School and the Railway Hotel immediately north and west of the Parish church as they are both key historic sites and good examples of their architectural style. The original core of Broadstone First School (1871) is one of the oldest and best examples of the Borough’s rural school building. The Railway Hotel (1889) was built to complement the railway station and is of good quality construction and materials and occupies an important corner site with development potential in the car park.

Option 2: Extend the area to include the Railway Hotel, the First School, Millbourne House and the shops at the entrance to Dunyeats Road and Moor Road. This extension would give the existing Conservation Area more vitality and unity and provide some recognizable gateways.

7.5The proposed extension of this area will ensure that development

opportunities have due regard for the nature and setting of the historic buildings and their role in defining the function and character of this part of Poole.

8.0 Suggested Extension: Ridgeway and Broadstone Park:

8.1Two minor extensions are proposed for the Ridgeway/Broadstone Park area. In response to Leisure Services comments, three properties on Ridgeway are to be included in order to safeguard the setting of the Park. Also proposed are two properties on the edge of the Park which are part of its historical development: Moorside and the Homestead both dating from the 1920’s. The Homestead (86 Dunyeats Road) was built and designed by architect and Councillor, Osman Brown, who donated the land for the bowling club. Moorside (2 Laurel Drive) had its original drive through the park and it’s grounds were planned around the park.

Report of:

PETER WATSON

Head of Planning Design and Control

If you have any queries on this report, please contact

John Biggs, Planning design and Control Services on 01202 633331

Background Papers:

Poole local Plan

Regional Spatial Strategy

BVPI 219 A,B,C

EH publications: “Guidance on conservation appraisals” and “Guidance on the management of conservation areas”