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Proposals for a local list of buildings and five
additional conservation areas
The growth of population planned for
the Horsham area will inevitably increase pressure for
more physical change to the existing fabric of the
town. We nave already seen inappropriate
schemes, and large Victorian houses with big gardens
are particularly under threat. It is therefore
crucial to identify what is of value in the present
townscape and do all that we can to avoid unnecessary
demolition or unsympathetic development.
Whilst there are many buildings in
Horsham that are already protected by inclusion on the
statutory list drawn up to English Heritage, none are
more recent than Georgian, and our Victorian and early
20th Century urban heritage is largely unprotected.
The Horsham Society is proposing a
two-pronged solution. The first is the creation
of a Local List, starting with 34 individual buildings
which are exemplars of their period. Many local
authorities have had non-statutory local lists
incorporated into their development plans for many
years.
The second is the designation of five
new conservation areas. District Councils have
powers to designate as a conservation area any area of
special architectural or historic interest whose local
character or appearance is worth protecting or
enhancing. There are already three conservation
areas in Horsham town, and 37 in the District as a
whole; the proposed new areas cover:
part of Warnham Road
- the Railway Station and parts of
Hurst Road & North Street
- Burford Road & Oakhill Road
- Barttelot Road
- parts of Brighton Road & St
Leonard's Road
"This is a most exciting initiative
which we believe will win wide support at a time when
our urban heritage is coming under even greater threat
from developers. Apart from its medieval core,
Horsham town dentre is largely Victorian with many
fine examples of urban street scenes that ought to be
given greater protection."
Nigel Friswell, Chairman, Horsham
Society
For more information, maps &
photographs, download the proposal document
here
- but please note, members will be receiving a copy
with the January newsletter
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