BASE HEADER

Thank you for consulting English Heritage on the suggested additional six strategic sites.
Before any commitment to any strategic site is made there is an expectation that a thorough strategic environmental assessment/sustainability appraisal will have been undertaken and that evidence would have been gathered and applied to demonstrate the relative suitability, capacity, deliverability and consistency with matters such as regional (RSS QE 1, 5 and 6) and national planning policy has been determined. At present whether or not this has occurred is unclear. In this respect we refer you to our previous correspondence of 25 September 2009, our specific comments relating to the evidence base and also to the recently published PPS5 and its associated good practice guide.

Please note that English Heritage considers that this apparent shortcoming is fundamental to the soundness of the Core Strategy.

In addition to this generic maxim please find an initial observation on each site based, unfortunately, on a rather crude desk top consideration.

Site 4 - Loes Farm, Guy's Cliffe, Warwick
You should ensure that thorough evidence is applied to determine whether the proposal would adversely affect the significance of the designated historic landscape and its setting including key views in and out. The direct and indirect impacts of major new development on the individual components that determine the relative value of Guy's Cliffe in total should be understood.

English Heritage considers that the well preserved areas of ridge and furrow should certainly be regarded as of national importance and preserved as a consequence, see:-
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/turning_plough.pdf?1267377944

Nevertheless and without prejudice to the above principle, should a robust assessment of the landscape establish that some form of development may be appropriate there should be an expectation that change will lever an enhancement of the historic environment in accordance with PPS1 1(ix) and PPS5.