Thank you to Peter Trewhitt for supplying the following. This post has been up-dated 14th August in the light of Sue Adam’s comment below. The Environment Sub-Group of Parwich Village Action Group has had a response to our letter commenting on the draft Conservation Area Appraisal (see our earlier post ‘A living working community’).
The response consisted of three documents:
- a letter from Sue Adam of the Peak Park’s Cultural Heritage Team dated 21st July 08 (sorry about the delay about getting this on-line). Click here to read the letter in full.
- a summary of the comments in the Environment Sub-Group’s letter and to Peter Trewhitt’s personal letter, and what has been incorporated into the draft Appraisal. Click here to read the full summary.
- responses to some additional local comments. Click here to read these comments.
The letter focused on three main issues; the purpose of the Conservation Area Appraisal, which is “to define and analyse the specific historic character and appearance that justified the designation of the area“; the Consultation Process that has been followed, that the Officers feel is in line with English Heritage guidelines, is appropriate and cost effective; and the Conservation Area Boundary which the Officers recommend be unchanged.
The Summary indicates the aspects of the draft Appraisal that have been influenced by the Environment Sub-Group’s comments and Peter Trewhitt’s personal comments. These mainly related to minor detail, such as the inclusion of Retlendon on the corner of Church Walk and Creamery Lane as worth specific mention or the wording in relation to such as ‘dormitory settlement’ which is being dropped. Local recommendations on more significant issues such as direct involvement of local groups in developing the final draft, and extending the Area’s boundaries to include all the village have not been adopted.
The Action Group understands that comments from others have been taken into account in developing the final draft for presentation to the Planning Committee. So do let us know what responses you have received to the comments you sent to the Peak Park Authority. A summary of our comments and whether or not they have been included in the final draft will be included as part of the Officers’ report to the Planning Committee.
Because of time constraints the final draft is now anticipated to go to the Planning Committee on 19th September (not the August meeting as previously suggested) but this is still not definite. The final draft will be available along with the Agenda of the relevant Planning Committee meeting aproximately a week before the meeting. Any one wanting to comment on the Appraisal to the Planning Committee can ask to speak at the meeting. If wanting to speak you need to contact the Authority’s Democratic Services at least two working days before the meeting (see PDNPA website for guidance).
The Conservation Area Appraisal when adopted will be used alongside other documents to inform decision-making in Planning and elsewhere within the Authority. It is not seen as a means of promoting any action in relation to the Conservation Area. It is intended at some undecided date in the future that there will be a Conservation Area Management Plan that will serve this role.
The Environment Sub-Group would welcome any comments on this either via PARWICH.ORG using the comments facility below, or directly to Peter Trewhitt, Patti Beasley or Lynette Coyne.
PARWICH.ORG 
It’s good to see the description of Parwich as a “dormitory settlement” corrected, with proper acknowledgment made of the village’s various facilities. The singling out of the “protected” Jacob’s Ladder on the verge near our house still makes me chuckle, though – it came out of a “grow your own wild flower garden” mixed seed packet that Kevin’s mum picked up for free at the Birmingham NEC!
Here is Sue Adams response to our post which we have amended accordingly:
I have just returned from my holidays today, … … …
I noticed that Ken only sent my responses to the comments received from yourself and the VAG. I am therefore attaching the additional responses to miscellaneous comments received (see http://www.parwichvillage.co.uk/pdfs/Response_to_issues_raised_misc.pdf).
I have had a look at the website entry. Please note that the summary of comments and responses is to be attached as an appendix to the Committee Report, not to the draft Appraisal itself. I also thought I should point out that the Conservation Area Appraisal is not a ‘planning document’, but is one of a number of documents that can be used to inform decision-making processes within planning and elsewhere within the Authority. Perhaps you could amend the wording on the website?
It has not yet been confirmed that the draft Appraisal will be taken to the September Committee – I will let you know once a final decision has been made.
Thank you to Sue Adam of the Peak Park for the following:
Many thanks for making the alterations to the website, as suggested in my email of 14th August.
I note the comments made on the website regarding those issues raised by consultees which have been incorporated into the final version of the Draft Appraisal, and those which have not. I can only reiterate that we have taken on board all of those issues that can be accommodated within the remit of a Conservation Area Appraisal, as explained in my responses to the points raised by consultees.
In your email of 8th August, you asked whether there may be an opportunity to view the final draft Appraisal before it is published with the Planning Committee papers. I have made enquiries and unfortunately have to report that it is not possible to make any Committee documents publicly available before they are made available to Authority Members. I appreciate your concerns regarding timing and availability but I have to respect this procedure, which is designed to avoid Members being questioned about documents before they have seen them themselves. Please note, however, that all of the changes which have been made to the draft Appraisal are included in the responses to comments which you have posted on your website.
At present we anticipate taking the draft Appraisal to Planning Committee on the 19th September, with papers being publicly available by Monday 15th September at the latest. If, for any reason, it is not possible to take the draft Appraisal to the September Committee, we would expect to go to the October 17th Planning Committee, with papers available by Monday 13th October at the latest. I will advise you which Committee it will be going to as soon as I know.
Once again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the residents of Parwich for the interest they have taken in the draft Conservation Area Appraisal, and for the many interesting, relevant and informative comments received.