The Sandgate Design Statement was first written in conjunction with the Sandgate community and adopted in 2013.
Shepway District Council adopted the Sandgate Village Design Statement as a Supplementary Planning Document at its Cabinet meeting on 19th June 2013.
Update May 2020:
A joint exercise by the Sandgate Parish Council and the Sandgate Society to review the 2013 design statement has been recently approved by Folkestone & Hythe District Council (FHDC). This revised SDS is a ‘supplementary planning document’ and a ‘material consideration’ in considering planning applications in Sandgate by FHDC.
Sandgate village has a rich building and landscape heritage and the design statement aims to ensure that that any new developments and building alterations conserve or enhance this environment.
If applying for planning permission in Sandgate you should show how you have complied with the relevant design principles in the updated Sandgate Design Statement (SDS).
To further this aim the revised SDS also includes a new Appendix A which commits to the creation of a ‘local list of buildings of architectural or historic interest’ (otherwise known as ‘buildings of local merit’). These are buildings which though not nationally listed (of which the village has one hundred and twenty (120) grade II buildings) are nonetheless important to the local heritage of the village, historically and/or architecturally.
For buildings on this list, or buildings that would meet that criteria, proposals for development will (only) be permitted where the particular characteristics that account for that designation are protected and conserved. Demolition will be resisted as far as possible.
FHDC can also serve an Article 4 direction which means that such locally listed buildings do not have ‘permitted development’ rights.
The Parish Council and the Sandgate Society are currently identifying buildings of local interest with a priority tranche to go to FHDC for consideration against agreed historical and architectural criterion. The process for local listing, including homeowner consultation, is detailed in the Appendix.
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