Peamore House and Park

Summary of Work:

Landgage Heritage were commissioned to support the allocation of the site within the Teignbridge District Council Local Plan. Landgage produced an initial heritage assessment which highlighted the presence of Peamore House and which recognised that its setting had parkland character.

Late in the local plan process a local group applied to Historic England (HE) to have much of the site and the surrounding area designated as a Registered Park and Garden. The inclusion of the site in the register would have severely affected our clients plans and would also have put the local plan process in jeopardy as the site was allocated to provide a significant number of homes.

Following the application to HE, a consultation process was undertaken, to which Landgage Heritage contributed. Following comprehensive archival research and a detailed review of existing historic information, a technical note was produced which considered the historic interest of the site against the published HE selection criteria for inclusion in the register. Landgage concluded that while the parkland was of clear local to regional heritage interest, it did not meet the criteria to be of clear national significance as would be expected of sites included within the register. As part of this process, Landgage also highlighted a number of serious concerns and factual errors in the documentation used to inform the consultation process.

Despite this, HE decided to include the land at Peamore in the register of historic parks and gardens. The allocated land included parcels which were critical to the delivery of the site and the designation threatened not only the client’s investment but the viability of the local plan.

Landgage identified grounds for appeal and worked closely with the client and their legal counsel to prepare a robust challenge to this decision. The challenge was successful; HE reviewed its decision to add the site to the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest and amended the registration of Peamore Park, removing part of the land previously included. The land excluded was sufficient to enable the delivery of the site for the client and to avoid derailing the local plan process.

Will Bedford, Director of Landgage Heritage, gave evidence at the examination to assure the planning inspector that the allocation could be delivered without resulting in unacceptable effects on the historic environment.