Bramley Parish Council has responded to the recent planning application for Beech Farm, and has strongly objected to the application. The response is below, or you can view the full letter here.
25/00815/PIP – Beech Farm Lane End Bramley Hampshire
Application for Permission in Principle for residential development of a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 9 dwellings
Bramley Parish Council has met to consider the above planning application, and objects on the following grounds.
- Beech Farm is a Grade 2 listed building that has been allowed to fall into disrepair by the landowner. This application will have an overwhelming impact on the listed building.
- Beech Farm is within a Conservation Area, and this proposal will have a significant impact on this. The Conservation Area appraisal for Bramley and Bramley Green notes that ‘The prevalent former employment in the Conservation Area was agricultural. The sites of five farms survive’. Moreover, ‘There are two listed buildings in Bramley Green. The Granary at Green Farm…’ and ‘Beech Farm Cottages, originally a single house, date from the 16th and 17th centuries. This building is a timber-framed hall-type medieval house with end cross wings of two-storeys. The ground floor has a later red brick wall below the former jetties of the upper floor. This may conceal a surviving timber-frame in the interior. The red clay tile roof has a large central chimney stack. Although very different in their purpose and design, both buildings reflect the importance of agriculture in this area, and its role in shaping the special character of the Conservation Area’. The last sentence in particular is important in defining the contribution of the listed building and of agricultural land uses to the significance of the Conservation Area.
- There are significant views both in and out of Beech Farm which would be harmed by the proposed development. These are listed in the Bramley Neighbourhood plan (Appendix D) as vista views. They are also recorded in the Conservation Area appraisal. This states that ‘Bramley Green is centred on the area of open common, around which are isolated dwellings. The common offers extensive views into, through, and across the Conservation Area to the surrounding landscape countryside. It is, therefore, the defining characteristic of the area. Further, ‘The field adjoining Beech Farm is an enclosed space, in sharp contrast to the common. It provides an important historic setting for the listed farm building. In front of Lilac Cottage, at the furthest end of the area, is a small open space used for play. Lane End therefore offers an interesting sequence of public and private spaces that separate the modern developments to the north and south, and are reminiscent of the past rural setting to the area’. This extract demonstrates the contribution of the present character of the application site to the significance of the Conservation Area, because it facilitates understanding of the asset in terms of the its evidential value and its historical value.
Bramley Parish Council contends that the proposals would significantly harm the views in and out of the development site.
- Access – Lane End is a single track narrow road and not suitable for heavier traffic than it already receives. This proposal would increase the traffic on what is effectively a rural road.
- Biodiversity – the site has developed a rich biodiversity, which would be significantly harmed by this proposal. There are bats in the area, and kites have been known to nest in the trees. Also of note is that there is a possible slow worm population on site (as identified in 2016 by the biodiversity officer at the time). The site also lies in an area with a suitable dormouse habitat adjacent to and surrounding the site, with links in with the surrounding hedgerows which could hold individuals
Given all of the above points, in particular the harm the proposals would make to the Conservation Area, Bramley Parish Council object to the application and believes it should be refused.