A letter to the Planning Officer

THE following letter was sent to Mrs Ros Ellison, Planning Officer of Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council.

Re The Walled Garden, Nantwich, and the meeting of April 22, 2008.

The Committee of this Society has asked me to make the following comments about the meeting which you arranged with the Dowhill Group and other interested parties for our information.

1,   We thank you for informing us of the proposals by the Dowhill Group to build within the Walled Garden and for allowing us to meet with the proposed developers.  We also thank you for the full notes of the meeting, which you produced so promptly.

2,    We do not have any quarrel with the Dowhill Group who we realise are anxious to capitalise on their purchase of the Walled Garden and have tried to treat the matter sensitively whilst still making a profit.

3,    We consider that the present situation has been arrived at because the Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council has abrogated its responsibilities towards this Listed Building over the last ten years by not issuing the necessary notices to the various owners of this garden.

4,    The original planning permission for Kingsley Fields excluded the Walled Garden from development and did not show any building within this garden. The developers at that time unreservedly accepted planning condition 11, included in this permission, to restore the walls.  This was specifically included within this outline approval by the Council to “ensure that the Walled Garden, which is a listed building, is preserved and incorporated within the development adequately.”  To allow developers to build 387 houses on the Kingsley Fields site without insisting upon the repair and reinstatement of the Elizabethan walls of the Walled Garden clearly shows a lack of concern by the Borough Council.  This large development should have adequately funded the restoration of the whole of this garden.

5,    We also consider that the Borough Council is in breach of its own policy which states that it “will seek to maintain green spaces within the built environment where they are useful and attractive”. The restored Walled Garden will clearly be a very useful and attractive asset to the Borough.  The Borough Council’s own policy (5.49) states that Listed Buildings “should, wherever possible, be maintained in the use for which they were originally designed.”  Clearly an Elizabethan Walled Garden was not designed for housing.

6,    The drawing  (Inset 2A) included in the relevant Borough Council 1999-2005 Local Plan showed the Walled Garden to be outside the Kingsley Fields residential development area (RES.1.5).  The drawing included in the present Borough Council Replacement Local Plan 2011 also shows the Walled Garden to be outside the Kingsley Fields residential development area (RES. 1(5)).

7,      The Nantwich Walled Garden Society has recently approached the Planning Ombudsman for a ruling about these matters and I attach a copy of our letter to him for your information.

8,      The Society has drawn up a full Restoration Plan for the garden and this is also attached.

9,      The Nantwich Walled Garden Society aims are set out in our constitution of June 13, 2004 and are: 

a) To prevent the development of housing on the site of the Old Walled Garden, off Welsh Row, which was once part of the gardens of Townsend House.

b) To ensure that the Elizabethan walls of the garden are fully restored and reinstated.

c) To restore the garden in a way that reflects its history so that it can be left in perpetuity for the enjoyment of the residents and visitors to Nantwich.

This Society will not agree with the building of housing within the Walled Garden and will continue to fight for its restoration.

Enclosed:

Copy of letter to Ombudsman.

Restoration Plan.

Copy of letter from Barrister re the last Planning Application.

Copies to:

Paul Ancell, Chief Executive.

Philippa Lowe, Head of Planning (Development).

Elizabeth Rodgers, Conservation Officer.

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