Agenda item

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director proposing that one conservation area be designated to include an area which would comprise the Barbican and Golden Lane Estates, the Barbican Registered Park and Garden, the Barbican Wildlife Garden, Bridgewater Square and the London Wall Scheduled Ancient Monument west and north of Monkwell Square.

The Chairman highlighted that the proposals presented had been shaped by public  consultation carried out between December 2017 and February 2018. The Assistant Director, Historic Environment, reported that some additional representations had been received after publication of the report but underlined that these contained no additional concerns to those that had already been raised elsewhere. She went on to report that a minor adjustment to the proposed boundary needed to be made to include the entire Barbican Wildlife Garden and that this would need to be approved in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Planning and Transportation Committee.

A Member stated that he very much welcomed this report and felt that Officers had been very responsive to the views expressed as part of the public consultation process. He added that he was pleased to see that the proposals now included the Barbican Wildlife Gardens in their entirety. However, the fact that certain buildings were not to be included within the conservation area (specifically 45 Beech Street and the Welsh Jewin Church) appeared to be a missed opportunity.

The Deputy Chairman stated that any redevelopment would have to consider the character of the adjoining Conservation area and that the importance of these buildings could therefore be recognised without having to necessarily include them within the proposed conservation area and adjust the boundaries.

A second Member stated that she also felt that it was a mistake not to include these buildings within the conservation area and proposed an amendment seeking to adjust the proposed boundaries to include these. Another Member seconded this proposal and it was put to the vote. 9 voted in favour of the amendment and 10 against with 2 abstentions.

RESOLVED – That, having considered the results of the public consultation, analysis and conclusions, Members agree to designate the area identified on the map in Appendix 1 as the Barbican and Golden Lane Conservation Area (subject to a small adjustment to ensure the area boundary is shown as incorporating the whole of the Barbican Wildlife Garden, the adjustment of the map to be delegated to the Chief Planning Officer in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman).