St Modwen HERITAGE STATEMENT

At the Conservation Area’s northern boundary is the Grand Union Canal, considered a green corridor and removed from the town; its western extent comprises Wolverton Park recreation ground, Bushfield Middle School and grounds and the Woburn Avenue cemetery. As the Site is closed off to the general public, this visually isolates this area, historically emphasising the separation of industrial activity from domestic life. As such, the Site forms an insular and low-density character, influenced by the nature of its operations and contrasts to the denser residential and commercial character of the rest of Wolverton. This clear separation is made all the more evident by the imposing brick boundary wall that runs along the main thoroughfare; offering limited views of the buildings within the Site. These buildings are constructed on a much larger scale and historically underpinned the economic and social development of Wolverton from the nineteenth century, until being significantly scaled down in the late twentieth century, which means that the buildings within the Site are considered to contribute to the town’s historic character. However, on a visual aspect, a combination of their low, long profiles, the brick boundary wall that runs along much of Stratford Road, and the unmanaged vegetation along the Grand Union Canal, ensures that only limited views of are obtainable. Additionally, these views are often of buildings with a similar general form, making it difficult to discern their specific role on the Site. As aforementioned, this boundary wall both visually and physically separates Stratford Road from Works and where the Site falls. Its continuous brick elevation is only broken up by a blocked off timber door, which used to form an entrance for workers. This prominent architectural element within the Conservation Area has historically obscured railway maintenance operations at the Works. Even today, only glimpses of rooftops affiliated with the railway-related buildings that lie closest to the boundary wall are obtainable. Consequently, buildings located further into the Works are not fully appreciable from this part of the Conservation Area. With regard to the Works, its role as a continuously operational railway maintenance complex has historically provided an important source of employment for Wolverton, which consequently has a major positive contribution to the Conservation Area’s significance. Nonetheless, the majority of railway-related buildings within the Works are not fully appreciable from the public realm as views are only obtainable in certain locations of the Conservation Area. It is considered that this lack of direct intervisibility between the Works and the Conservation Area means that its greater contribution to its significance derives from its communal interest. The Site formerly had a traverser (now filled in) and the Aitchison Engine Depot. This building dated to the original 1830s development of the Works before being removed in the 1990s and replaced with a Tesco supermarket. The four-metre high, brick boundary wall at the Site’s southern boundary was originally constructed sometime in the late nineteenth century, coinciding with the westerly expansion of development on Stratford Road. Since then, this boundary wall has both visually and physically separated the Works from the rest of Wolverton. In accordance with NPPF Paragraph 138, not all elements of a Conservation Area necessarily contribute to its significance. It has been identified that the greatest significance of the Wolverton Conservation Area derives from its nineteenth and early twentieth century industrial and railway infrastructure, in addition to its residential character area associated with the railway workforce. In relation to the Works, its role as a continuously operational railway maintenance complex has historically provided an important source of employment for Wolverton, which consequently has a major positive contribution to the Conservation Area’s significance. Nonetheless, the majority of railway-related buildings within the Works are not fully appreciable from the public realm as views are only obtainable in certain locations of the Conservation Area. Given that the Aitchison Engine Depot and traverser are no longer extant within the Site boundary, the Site therefore offers little contribution to the Conservation Area’s overall significance. Indeed, the Site’s only historic characteristic that survives includes the embedded railway tracks in the concrete hardstanding and the small section of the brick boundary wall. The Aitchison Engine Depot was never there but the London and Birmingham depot was the traverser can be uncover and reused at any time its only fill in with dirt and rubbish the rails for the traverser so still be there As part of the integration with Wolverton, it is necessary to remove a section of brick boundary wall at the Site’s southern boundary. While such an approach will be a material loss to the Stratford Road character area that forms part of the Wolverton Conservation Area, the impact upon this heritage asset’s overall significance will be negligible. This is because the majority of the boundary wall, to the west, will be preserved and therefore remain a strong visual and physical contributor to the heritage asset. With the Site’s floor level set below both Stratford Road to the south and the side access road to the east, the overall bulk, scale and massing of the proposed Foodstore will be reduced when viewed from these locations. This, in turn, will effectively mean a lesser visual impact to the Conservation Area than the existing Tesco supermarket adjacent, which fronts onto Stratford Road. This heritage statment to me is just crap and there is no where in it that shows any thought in keeping the building whats so ever.