Agenda item

Report of the Interim Executive Director Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Interim Executive Director Environment regarding the Creechurch Conservation Area Proposal.

An Officer stated that in July 2023, the Committee had approved a public consultation on the proposals for the Creechurch Conservation Area. This public consultation ran from September to November and involved consultation on three principal options for the conservation area boundary, plus the addition of a fourth option for respondents to suggest their own alternative boundary. Over 900 responses were received. The Officer stated that this was unprecedented and a very welcome level of engagement. 84.5% of respondents voted for option 3 – the option tabled by Bevis Marks Synagogue.

The Officer stated that the consultation responses received had been considered by Officers. Responses included new information, including additional detail relating to specific sites within the proposed boundary, within the wider area, and more generally relating to the history of the area and the communities that had settled in the area. Taking this into account, Officers recommended that the Committee designate a proposed conservation area with the boundary set out in Appendix 1 of the Officer report, as this boundary best captured the special architectural and historic interest present in the locality and best discharged the City’s statutory duties under policy and legislation in respect of conservation areas.

In response to Members’ questions in relation to the timeline for the conservation area being approved by the Court of Common Council and adopted, an Officer stated that subject to the conservation area being approved by Committee, a report would be submitted to the Court of Common Council on 11 January 2024 and if approved, it would take effect immediately. A management plan would then be prepared and subject to the Committee’s approval would go out to public consultation in late spring/early summer 2024. The management plan would set out how the conservation area would be managed through the planning process.

In response to a Member’s question about how the conservation would fit in with the City Plan, an Officer stated that the conservation area was separate to the City Plan which had its own set of policies. However, a number of designations would be included in the City Plan when submitted to the Committee at the next meeting on 31 January 2024. This would include an Immediate Setting area around Bevis Marks Synagogue, as well as a Tall Buildings area that covered part of this conservation area and would be assessed by virtue of various strategic views and impacts on the wider heritage. Issues relating to this area and to the synagogue would be addressed within the city cluster part of the strategic policy section of the City Plan.

A Member asked Officers to comment on the inclusion of 1 Creechurch Lane. He stated that whilst it was geographically central to the proposed conservation area, in character, it seemed substantially different to the character of the area the conservation area aimed to conserve. An Officer explained that as 1 Creechurch Lane was central to the area, including it enabled a coherent boundary to be drawn. Furthermore, the site of the building was also the site of the Great Synagogue, which was one of the most important sites in respect of the locality. It was considered that following the additional information provided in the consultation relating to the Great Synagogue, its inclusion was important in adequately reflecting the significant Jewish associations the area possessed. Although the building itself did not contribute positively to the proposed conservation area’s character and appearance, there was leeway within legislation and policy.

In response to a Member’s question request for clarification on the wording of the overarching summary, an Officer stated that this section set out the principal characteristics of character, appearance and significance. The proposed boundary contained buildings ranging from the domestic scale or mercantile scale of the warehouses along Creechurch Lane, through to buildings such as 1 Creechurch Place, Cunard House and others which were of a different scale. The Officer stated that this would be more clearly expressed in the management plan and consultees would be able to express their views on the overarching characteristics of the conservation area.

A Member asked for the rationale for not including the south side of Aldgate High Street with its Victorian buildings and the Metropolitan Aldgate station, as well as the ruins of the priory and the building next to the pump area as the public had asked for these inclusions. An Officer explained that the building mentioned including the ruins, was included within the proposed boundary. The inclusion of the buildings on the south side was considered but the overarching character of the Creechurch locality, which the conservation area sought to protect, was defined principally by ecclesiastical, mercantile, educational and domestic buildings and uses and these were seen to diverge from that character.

The Chairman thanked the synagogue and the rabbi for the for the constructive way they had worked with Officers.

RESOLVED – That Members of the Committee, having considered the results of the public consultation, analysis and conclusions, approve the designation of the area identified on the map in Appendix 1 of the officer report, as the Creechurch Conservation Area.