Agenda item

To consider agreement to the revisions to the boundary of the Staines Conservation Area and the Staines Conservation Area Appraisal as Supplementary Planning Guidance.

The Committee considered a report from the Planning Development Manager and the Team Leader of Planning Development Management on an appraisal of the Staines Conservation Area, Staines Conservation Area Appraisal and the proposed revisions to its boundary.

The draft appraisal had previously been agreed by the Environment and Sustainability Committee in May 2022 for public consultation. However, in approving the final document, it emerged that five responses had not been taken into account, four of support and one an objection on behalf of the owner of the former Debenhams building. A subsequent Judicial Review quashed the decision to extend the area around the former Debenhams store and the Memorial Gardens on three grounds. The report before the Environment and Sustainability Committee now was, therefore, to consider the Appraisal and the extensions afresh in light of all the public consultation responses received, including those originally missed.

The Committee was advised that a conservation area across the river in Runnymede that had been recently assessed. The Committee explored how the Conservation could help enhance the areas it extended into, and it was explained that any changes to those areas could not deteriorate the area and would need to make improvements to the existing area.

The Committee queried the two areas being removed from the Conservation Area. It was explained that around the Travelodge, the area had changed so significantly that there was very little of intrinsic value to the Conservation Area. The Committee also queried the exclusion of the north side of the High Street, and it was noted that it would dilute the Conservation Area. The Committee also sought clarification on how conservation areas are affected by design codes.

The Committee resolved to

1)    Agree the revisions to the boundary of the Staines Conservation Area (“SCA”);

2)    Agree the Staines Conservation Area Appraisal as Supplementary Planning Guidance.