§ Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthornasked Her Majesty's Government:
What representations they have received from English Heritage on the proposed construction of hard surface tennis courts, a service block and a sports hall adjacent to the historic late Saxon earthwork defences at Wallingford, which are scheduled as an ancient monument, and for which Oxfordshire County Council has applied to itself for planning permission, and why the Department for the Environment felt that there were no grounds for a call-in for consideration by the Secretary of State; and
Whether they will reconsider the decision of the Secretary of State for the Environment not to call 25WA in Oxfordshire County Council's planning application to itself as the determining authority for development in the Wallingford Conservation Area, affecting the setting of an important scheduled monument, in view of the clear presumptions set out in the Department of the Environment's own Advisory Papers PPG15 and PPG16, and in light of the subsequent application which the county council has now made to itself for further large-scale development in that conservation area.
The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Earl Ferrers)Careful consideration was given to English Heritage's request for the Secretary of State to call in proposals for the construction of netball/tennis courts and landscaping adjacent to earthworks which form the Wallingford Town Wall, which is a scheduled monument. However, applications are called in only exceptionally and my department concluded that this proposal, which did not include any buildings, was one which should be left to Oxfordshire County Council to determine.
Furthermore, the development did not involve works to the scheduled monument itself and there was overwhelming local support for the sports proposals. Conditions were imposed on the development, including one to safeguard the recording and inspection of matters of archaeological importance on the development site.
Since planning permission has now been given to the netball/tennis courts at Wallingford, reconsideration of whether this earlier proposal should be called in is not now possible.
A later, separate application for a new science block and sports buildings at Wallingford Lower School is at present being considered by Oxfordshire County Council. English Heritage have asked that an Article 14 "holding" direction should be issued on this new application so that the impact on the setting of Wallingford Town Wall and the Wallingford Conservation Area can be considered.
The county council does not intend to determine this further application until September. This period may provide the opportunity for the issues to be resolved. If this does not prove possible and the county council still wishes to proceed with the proposed buildings, very careful consideration will be given to whether the Secretary of State for the Environment should call in the application.