Boundary changes will correct ‘anomaly’

CHANGES to conservation area boundaries in Goring and Whitchurch have been recommended for adoption following a review.

Whitchurch Parish Council and Goring Gap Local History Society have produced a draft appraisal and management plan.

During the review, they identified areas of sufficient interest and significance to be considered for inclusion within the designated boundary.

The heritage team of South Oxfordshire District Council also reviewed and proposed areas.

A four-week public consultation took place in September and October last year.

The Whitchurch conservation area boundary changes include: the addition of land on Hardwick Road, east of the existing boundary, to include a historic avenue of trees; the removal of the modern dwellings at Old Gardens, on the southern side of Manor Road; and corrections of the boundary in three places to follow the property boundaries at Eastfield House, at Pluto and at Chiltern Edge.

There were 19 responses during the public consultation and some residents objected to the extension of the boundary along Hardwick Road.

The Goring conservation area boundary changes include: the correction of the west boundary to follow the district and county boundary along the river, correcting an “anomaly” where parts of Streatley were shown within the boundary; the addition of the Railway Cottages to the east of Goring Station; and the removal of the modern developments of Sloane Close and Farm Road and the modern developments at Elmhurst Walk.

Of the 24 responses received during the public consultation, there were mixed reviews on the proposed boundary extension along Manor Road. The responses noted that the buildings are not all in their original layout, with large extensions and divisions of semi-detached plots.

It was then recommended that a slightly reduced extension of the boundaries be adopted and designated as conservation areas.

The district council’s cabinet will make the final decision on the proposals.