ObjectionLetter

Margaret Smith Planning Officer Sheffield City Council Planning Department Howden House Sheffield S1 2HH

26 June 2006

Council ref 06/01866/FUL C of E Chapel, Cemetery Road Sheffield

Dear Ms Smith

I am writing on behalf of the Trust to object to the proposed plans to develop the Anglican Chapel on Cemetery Road. The plans to turn the chapel into an individual dwelling are inappropriate and out of sympathy with the building, its setting and the current use of the cemetery by the general public.

Background

The Anglican Chapel in Sheffield General Cemetery is Listed Grade II and is a nationally important building. It is also a local landmark and part of the Sheffield skyline as well as a fine example of an early Church of England Mortuary Chapel in the Gothic Revival style, which was considered the most appropriate style for the established church for the majority of the nineteenth century. Finally it is one of the few buildings designed by the prolific Sheffield architect, William Flockton, which although in poor condition, remains as designed and in the same setting. The Chapel is set within a Grade II registered landscape recognised by English Heritage as being of national historic interest, as an example of the nationally acclaimed landscape designer, Robert Marnock. The site is also a Conservation Area, and a registered Nature Reserve.

Grounds for objection are stated below:

Community use

A) The cemetery is a well used park. Many people use the entrance on Cemetery Road and there are established rights of way that will be disrupted. B) The general public have strong feelings about the cemetery and about this chapel in particular. Fencing off an area around the building will deny the public access to part of the historic site, eroding the landscape and will create a conflict between public and private access on the site. C) To redevelop the chapel as a single dwelling is inappropriate. A viable community use for the building can be found.

Heritage

A) The chapel is a key element in the landscape of the consecrated section of the cemetery and these plans will make the building lose its coherence with its historic setting B) The Sheffield General Cemetery Trust has well developed plans for this building that are in sympathy with the historic site. The Trust has commissioned and has available a Feasibility Design report, a conservation management plan of the landscape and of the chapel, including a set of proposed policies and proposals reflecting the importance of maintaining intact the historic design of the chapel and its landscape in any development proposals.

PPG15 and Sheffield UDP

PPG15

Sections 16 and 66 of the 1991 Town and Country Planning Act require authorities considering applications for planning permission or listed building consent for works which affect a listed building to have special regard to certain matters, including the desirability of preserving the setting of the building. It says ‘the setting is often an essential part of the building's character, especially if a garden or grounds have been laid out to complement its design or function.’ Also, ‘the economic viability as well as the character of historic buildings may suffer and they can be robbed of much of their interest, and of the contribution they make to townscape or the countryside, if they become isolated from their surroundings, e.g. by new traffic routes, car parks, or other development’. All of this is highly pertinent in this planning application.

UDP

Sheffield’s UDP also supports our objections. The policy reference BE21 for protecting designed landscapes says that "the character, setting and appearance of historic parks and gardens will be protected". There are also several relevant 'open space' policies. Policy LR5 says "Development in Open Space Areas will not be permitted where (f) it would damage the character of a historic park or garden; or (k) the proposed use would be incompatible with surrounding land uses". Policy LR9 says "Redundant cemeteries, graveyards and crematoria will be retained as open space. Redevelopment of redundant cemeteries, graveyards and crematoria will be permitted only if it would (b) enhance public use and appreciation of the grounds".

Redevelopment plans

A) The plans include the provision of six velux windows on the South East elevation facing onto Cemetery Road. This adaptation will be highly visible on the face of this listed building and is not appropriate. B) The plans include the fencing off of an area around the building which will visually intrude on the historic landscape, disrupt public rights of way that are well used, in two directions: walking down the hill towards Ecclesall Road, and walking North East into the cemetery open area towards Montague Street. C) The fencing cuts through and destroys the integrity of the rotunda in front of the chapel. D) Creates an opening in the wall along Cemetery Road, thus breaking the continuity and sweeping curve up Cemetery Road, which is an intrinsic part of the historic landscape designed by Robert Marnock. E) Provides a new roadway within the cemetery grounds which again disrupts the historic landscape designed by Robert Marnock. F) The plans to create a single family dwelling will mean that inevitably the detritus of family life, such as washing lines, wheely bins, garden landscaping, will gather outside the building. This will be an eyesore. G) The chapel is known to support a bat roost. What plans are there to ensure the bats are protected, as required in law?

Jane Horton Trustee Sheffield General Cemetery Trust