A Conservation Area for Stoke Golding

    A Conservation Area designates part of a village with special architectural and/or historical interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to retain or enhance. Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council considers that the old village of Stoke Golding merits the designation of 'Conservation Area'. The green space of Crown Hill where Henry Tudor was crowned after the Battle of Bosworth and the lovely Grade I listed Church of St Margaret are just two of the features that make Stoke Golding unique.

    Conservation Area status provides some protection to an area, not just individual buildings. The Council would pay special attention to conserving or enhancing the character of the area through giving extra publicity to planning applications, requiring that planning consent is given for any demolition and providing funds for planting schemes, resurfacing and environmental projects. It recognises that change within the area will occur but that this needs to be balanced by the need to preserve and enhance.

Background

    Stoke Golding Heritage Group was formed 'to promote and preserve the heritage of Stoke Golding and its rural environment, and to seek Conservation Areas within the Parish'. As part of this aim the Group applied to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council for a consultation process to be carried out with the residents of the village as to whether or not a Conservation Area is a worthwhile development.

    The Borough Council asked the Heritage Group to produce a report identifying those buildings and features, which give Stoke Golding its character. The report is a detailed and very carefully considered document. (If anyone would like to see a copy please contact David Goodsell at the address below). It provided a basis for the Council to begin their work leading to consultation with the village. The Heritage Group has regularly made information on the progress of the application available to Stoke Golding residents through items in The Stoker, the Heritage Group Newsletter, letters and reports to the Parish Council.

Consultation process

    Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council policy and procedures specify that consultation is a Council responsibility. The Council makes the decision as to which areas of the village are in the proposed Conservation Area.

    A pamphlet and comment form was distributed to every household in the village. This provided details of the public consultation that the Council undertook in August. We await the outcome of this process. 

Update - 24th June 2004

At a meeting of the Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council Planning Committee on 15th  June, Councillors voted to designate part of the village as a Conservation Area. The proposal, with one minor omission, was one which was put before residents of Stoke Golding last August. HBBC will be circulating literature showing the area of the village, which has been agreed as coming within the Conservation Area.

Reg Ward, our Borough Councillor, spoke in support of the decision to designate the area by saying that he believed that all the residents had an opportunity to give their views on this proposal and the democratic outcome of the consultation should be recognised. (77% of responses from residents were in favour of the proposal).

Mr Bill Cullen, Head of Leisure and Planning, HBBC, commented to Councillors that experience elsewhere in the Borough was that Conservation Area status was valued by residents, as the designation allowed measures to retain the character of the settlement while still allowing permitted development to occur. Several councillors on the Planning Committee spoke in favour of Conservation Areas and their value for the communities in which they were situated.

The Heritage Group is extremely pleased that the wishes of the majority of the villagers who responded to the consultation have been accepted. It is over two years since the Heritage Group first asked HBBC to begin the process of consulting with residents. HBBC approached the Heritage Group for help in surveying the village to identify buildings and areas, which merited inclusion in a Conservation Area. The Council used this information to prepare the proposal, which was put to the residents of the village. There are 23 Conservation Areas within HBBC and contact with the Parish Councils of nearby villages who have Conservation Areas has shown that their communities regard them as an asset, making a positive and worthwhile contribution to their development.

David Goodsell, Heritage Group Secretary