EAST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL

  PROTECTING HERITAGE ASSETS IS A PLANNING AND BUILDING CONTROL FUNCTION INVOLVING CONSERVATIONISTS AND ENFORCEMENT AGAINST OFFENDERS

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HARRIET SAYS - Pardon me for asking, but our herd were wondering why the most important evidence of the transition to the modern age of electricity, seems to have been deliberately avoided by conservationists working at, or for, Wealden District Council. It must have slipped their minds. Silly sausages. Note: that is porcine, not bovine thinking. Civil servants have a tendency to bovine practices, in being absent minded when it suits them. And a duty to the wallet, not the historic built environment. Especially when caught with their hand in the till, doing favours for chums.

The East Sussex geographical area has a rich heritage which is an important asset to be safeguarded and enhanced and is evident in its historic towns and villages; and within the historic rural landscape.

The Government’s objective is that the historic environment should be conserved and enjoyed for the quality of life it brings to this and future generations.

The Government has defined the historic environment as:

‘All aspects of the environment resulting from the interaction between people and places through time, including surviving physical remains of past human activity, whether visible, buried or submerged, and landscaped and planted or managed flora.'

A snapshot of the heritage that can be found just within the Wealden area of East Sussex includes:

- Evidence for human settlement and activity from Prehistoric through to Post Medieval Periods.

- Over 2000 Listed Buildings

- 20 Historic Parks and Gardens

- 104 Scheduled Monuments

- 33 designated Conservation Areas (not including the South Downs National Park Authority area)

- Non-designated and locally designated heritage assets

- Areas of archaeological potential and interest, many identified as Archaeological Notification Areas (ANAs)

- Industrial, economic and agricultural uses and impacts

- Trading

- Transport

- Military History

- Influence of famous people and notable local figures throughout history

- High Weald designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) to the north

- Low Weald non-designated landscape area to the southeast

- Pevensey Levels Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) to the south

- Large number of historic settlements.

For more details information on the rich heritage in Wealden, a brief timeline of historic settlement and activity in Wealden has been compiled.

WHAT IS A HERITAGE ASSET?

A Heritage Asset is a building, monument, site, place, area or landscape identified as having a degree of significance meriting consideration in planning decisions, because of its heritage interest, which include:

- listed buildings

- conservation areas

- scheduled monuments and areas of archaeological potential and interest

- unlisted buildings of historic interest (referred to as non-designated assets)

- historic parks and gardens

When an application affects a heritage asset, a heritage statement will be required.

Advice on works to listed buildings is also available from Historic England.

WHEN IS A HERITAGE STATEMENT REQUIRED?

THE ONLY ONE LEFT - This unassuming building is believed to be the earliest surviving example of electricity generating and load leveling on the planet. In the world of industrial archaeology, this is a rare gem. All the more intriguing for being nestled out of the way in the country. Notably not understood for it's importance by local politicians and some immediate neighbors. Some of which had in the past wanted to purchase it, simply to knock it down and build over it.

It takes a remarkable level of legal and mental fortitude to withstand the battering from competing parties, most of whom want to develop their patch for profit. In the world of archaeology, profit is last on the list of priorities - the easy way out. The legal and administrative challenge will inevitably defeat even the hardiest of campaigners over time. And that is another reason that this industrial building is so valuable. It cost one of the veterans two marriages, and the right to found a family, with human rights damages outstanding in relation to negligent misstatements on the part of the local authority, constituting an unlawful interference in his Article 8 convention rights. See Section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998, as to unlawfulness, when occasioned by a council.

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