November 2021 – Further information concerning the NWGS’s rationale for objecting to planning applications 19/0015N (full planning application) and 19/0016N (listed building consent):

  • All the previous planning applications and appeals have been carefully and exhaustively scrutinised and all have been rejected or allowed to lapse; these new applications are not significantly different and so the same objections apply. In 2016 the Planning Inspector said: “…the proposal would be detrimental to the significance of the setting of the listed building and to the character and appearance of the conservation area.” The 2019/2021 proposals would be equally damaging.
  • Nantwich does not need more houses; our infrastructure is struggling to cope with those currently under construction. The Kingsley Fields 2 development, only a few hundred metres from the walled garden site, will add over 1000 dwellings to the local housing stock. Several other developments in the area are adding yet more houses.
  • The town would benefit from more visitor attractions to generate additional tourist income, which has inevitably fallen during the pandemic. The restored garden would be a great asset to Nantwich, attracting visitors to our beautiful historic town but this would only be effective if the whole site were to be appropriately restored; a reduced-size garden overshadowed by a block of modern housing would not have the same impact or exercise the same attraction.
  • St Anne’s Lane development: work is expected to start in spring 2022 on this development, which aims to bring visitors and trade to the Welsh Row area. A visitor attraction like the walled garden (properly restored) would complement this.
  • The historic aspect – the early 17th century walls are a Grade II listed structure within the Welsh Row Conservation Area and the walled garden is a rare survival of its period, described by English Heritage in 2006 as ‘of national importance’. Cheshire East has an obligation to protect our local heritage: their website says (of listed buildings) “their continued existence is of significant importance as a visual asset to Cheshire East and as a means of interpreting past historical or architectural events.”
  • “There will be no … introduction of incongruous development.” – from the Heritage Impact Assessment – but that is exactly what is proposed, by introducing six modern properties into this historic setting. Basing the design on an orangery does not make it any more suitable – local historians have found no record or evidence of an orangery in the garden or associated with Townsend House at any time since its construction in 1580 to the present day.
  • Ownership of the walls has not yet been established and it may not be possible to do so. It is therefore hard to see how a satisfactory scheme can be set up to ensure their repair and future maintenance. Point 7.02 of the New Design and Access Statement states that “The proposals support the needed repair works to the Listed structure and secure their long-term maintenance and protection.” but nowhere does it state exactly what these are or make any commitment to undertake them as part of the development.
  • Ongoing maintenance of the proposed public garden: a detailed financial plan for setting up and running a fund to maintain the garden in perpetuity and to an acceptably high standard must be submitted to Cheshire East and approved before a final decision is made. The scheme as proposed does not appear to be commercially viable and the council should not approve a scheme that stands a high chance of failure.
  • An archeological excavation should be carried out to increase our knowledge of this important site; this, and the repairs to the walls, must be completed before any new building work commences.
  • The three bee boles on the south wall are an extremely significant historic feature of the garden but they would be in the private gardens belonging to the properties and therefore inaccessible to the public.
  • The continuing goal of the Nantwich Walled Garden Society (NWGS) is a high-quality restoration of the garden and walls to appropriate heritage standards in their entirety as a grant-funded community project, making the whole site accessible to the public.