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Council wants to preserve town’s history
Published Friday 17th June 11
Members of Wellingborough Council’s development committee are to discuss having stricter control over alterations on buildings in an effort to preserve the history of the town centre.
The committee is being asked to give approval to start public consultation over the introduction of an Article 4 Direction, which will require people in the town centre's conservation area to get planning permission if they want to make changes such as new doors or windows to their houses. The need for the Article 4 Direction has come about as part of the council's bid for £1.4m of lottery money to save the heritage of the town.
Planning controls are stricter than normal in the conservation area - which covers a large part of the town centre - but residents still do have what's known as 'permitted development rights', meaning that they can make small changes to the buildings without planning permission. The introduction of an Article 4 Direction would remove these rights and mean that permission would need to be granted before the buildings could be altered.
Changes that would require planning permission if the Article 4 Direction goes ahead would include replacement windows and doors, different roof coverings, construction of porches, installation of satellite dishes, painting or rendering of walls, and alterations to gates and fences.
Cllr Graham Lawman, chairman of the council's development committee said: "We are in the process of securing a significant amount of money from the Heritage Lottery Fund to preserve and restore the history of our town, and without the adoption of these extra controls over development in the area that funding would be in doubt. At the moment people are able to make small changes to these properties and although each change is relatively insignificant the effect of continuous development is detrimental to the character of the conservation area. We have some really beautiful buildings in Wellingborough and we don't want to see historical features such as original slate roofs, timber sash windows, decorative chimneys and moulded terracotta detailings disappear.
"There is currently no fee for planning applications required as a result of an Article 4 Direction, and the fact that an application would be needed doesn't mean that permission would necessarily be refused. What we're trying to achieve is a way to ensure that development can happen in the conservation area, but without harming its special qualities and architectural character."
The development committee will meet at 7pm on Tuesday 21 June and will also seek permission to begin public consultation on control of the design and placing of shop signs and advertisements within the town centre conservation area.