Object

Representation ID: 29446

Received: 29/03/2021

Respondent: Historic England

This site should not be allocated for development.

The site is adjacent to the Queensbury Conservation Area and the Grade II listed Black Dyke Mills, including the Grade II listed Mill Chimney. The development of this area could harm elements which contribute to the significance of these designated heritage assets.
The Heritage Impact Assessment for this site also included land to the north east of the allocation site along Old Mill Dam Lane. The HIA considered that the screening provided by the former C20 single storey weaving shed on the southernmost part of the mills site
would mean that development of the proposed allocation site would not harm views or the setting of the heritage assets. The HIA concluded that development would have a Minor to Negligible impact on heritage significance.
Historic England consider that this analysis underplays the potential harm to the setting of Black Dyke Mills. Development of this site would be harmful to the conservation area, as it would continue the encroachment of suburban development around it, further eroding the rural setting that greatly contributes to its character. It would also be harmful to the setting of the Grade II listed mill by blurring the historic relationship this had with the valley to the south, which seem to historically have been an access to and part of the industrial complex.
The Queensbury Conservation Area Assessment clearly states how the rural setting that surrounds the Conservation Area contributes greatly to its form and character. The assessment highlights that although views to the relatively flat northwest, west and southwest
are limited by the topography and the built up nature of the area, wider views into and out of the conservation area to the south, north and east can be had due to the descending slope of mainly open land away from the village. It goes on to say that it is these areas of green land which buffer the conservation area, and can be
glimpsed at from many points within it, that contribute to the feeling of being in a rural industrial village. Views from the south towards the mill, such as those obtainable from Syke Lane, are therefore important to the significance and appreciation of the Conservation Area along with those key views and vistas identified in the 2006 conservation Area Appraisal. The contribution of these
wider views from the south to the significance of the heritage assets, and the implications of development within them, has not been afforded appropriate consideration by the HIA.
A large part of the site is also on sloping ground and, as such, it is difficult to envisage how development could take place on the site without causing considerable harm to the setting of the Conservation Area and Black Dyke Mills.