Design Guidance for Perimeter Fencing at Schools for Nottinghamshire County Council

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1 APPENDIX 1 Design Guidance for Perimeter Fencing at Schools for Nottinghamshire County Council Introduction: The purpose of this guide is to set out some parameters for assessing planning applications for fencing around school premises. This guide sets out a series of levels where various design issues need consideration. The aim is to ensure that where fencing schemes are proposed for schools, they are designed in a manner which reflects the context of the specific site and its surroundings.

2 2 1. The key to any successful planning application is pre-application consultation. This approach is encouraged within Let s Get It Right A County Council Guide to Obtaining Planning Permission. It is therefore advised that all applications made for fencing should first be discussed with the Development Control Case Officer for the area and other members of the department as appropriate, such as the Conservation Officer and Urban Design Officer, prior to any formal submission of an application. 2. Design and Access statements are so important to setting out and understanding why a planning application is being made. Current Design and Access statements for fencing generally do include a landscape comment. It is proposed that in future the Design and Access statement should also include, where appropriate, the views of the Urban Design and Conservation Officers. A draft Design and Access statement should be approved prior to submission of the application by the Development Control team so that issues relating to boundary treatments can be resolved before the planning process is formally commenced. 3. The Design and Access statement needs to set out more clearly the actual problem or problems that are occurring at a school which the application is seeking to address. The statement should include:-

3 3 a) The criminal activities or vandalism that is taking place at the school; b) There should be a recorded list of the number of crime incidents over the last 5 years; c) The incidents should outline where the building was accessed or premises or grounds intruded upon; d) A greater understanding is needed of the actual criminal activity or concern by the school and their governors to enable the optimum solution to be promoted; e) It should be clearly identified whether the proposal for fencing is to partially or fully resolve an issue, or as a means of deterrent to potential intruders. A full plan of measures to tackle the criminal problem should be made;

4 4 f) The sequence of studying the issues, the alternative proposals and why the proposal has been chosen for a certain type of fencing in a certain location should form part of the Design and Access statement.

5 5 4. The various design issues associated with different localities graded into levels. Design criteria relating to different types of perimeter fencing has been classified into levels. These are as follows:- Level One Listed Buildings Where a school premises is a Listed Building then any fencing around the perimeter of that site needs to respect the heritage and importance of the building and its surroundings. In many instances Listed Buildings will have historic enclosing walls, railings and other means of enclosure that needs retaining or enhancing as part of any proposals. These means of enclosure may not always be immediately adjacent to the school but still provide perimeter boundaries around playing fields and other open land, thereby forming part of the setting of the educational premises. Obviously, Listed Building Consent, as well as Planning Permission will be needed for many of the fence proposals and this category of application needs to be most sensitively considered. Applications for Listed Building Consent are dealt with by the relevant District or Borough Council. The Conservation Officer should be fully involved prior to the submission of an application for any alterations within the grounds, or to a Listed school building. Level Two There are buildings on local interest lists retained both within the County and in the District/Borough Councils that identify properties and structures that are important locally to an area for their historic or visual importance. This local interest group should be studied for any

6 6 proposals affecting boundaries to schools in this category. Again, the building is of historic value and historic boundary treatments need to be respected and cared for in any proposed scheme. In many ways Level Two is very similar to Level One category of importance of buildings and settings and the need to have historic boundary treatment or other new boundary treatments that respect the character of these buildings and localities. It is therefore envisaged that Level Two is nearly as important as Level One. Level Three Level Three comprises school buildings within any recognised list of importance e.g., County Council Conservation Team s list of clasp -type schools that should be respected for their importance in a contemporary architectural form. Sometimes the boundary treatments associated with these schools also reflect the period of architecture of the buildings and the two must complement each other. Therefore any proposals affecting the setting of clasp buildings that are on the County list as important should also have a detailed scheme of boundary treatments respecting this level of architecture. Level Four In Conservation Areas it is often spaces around buildings that are as important as the buildings themselves. School premises often have formal playing areas very near the building and other playing fields associated with the educational establishment. Therefore the school itself contributes to the value of the Conservation Area and so does the space around the building. It is important that the setting of the school within the Conservation Area, or the approach to a Conservation Area, is held in high esteem and the space has equal value to the Conservation Area as a building or group of structures. The height and type of proposed fencing in

7 7 Conservation Areas is a high level category of importance and again every historic boundary treatment that exists should be respected. In Conservation Areas it is not just about hard boundary treatments, but in many cases there are important hedgerows around school fields that need to be kept as part of the visual amenity and character of that area. In many Conservation Areas, particularly the villages, schools have a very key importance in the road frontages. Their front boundary railings, walls and gate piers and entranceways are all part of the historic street pattern and value of the area. They often reflect the architectural style of the school and make a statement about the public building in a certain locality. It is these public frontages that need to be respected in Conservation Areas. It may be that a proposed fencing scheme could leave untouched all the immediate boundary treatments around the school and add more contemporary solutions around the playing fields beyond. Many schools are also in Conservation Areas but are on the edge of a village and this rural fringe may mean they are more relaxed in their outdoor spaces. In the countryside this rural character needs respecting with means of enclosure. Level Five Good architecturally significant local schools There are many good local schools in areas that are not Listed and are not in Conservation Areas. However they are often set within residential areas with public frontages and are key buildings in townscape value terms. Their importance is the building

8 8 themselves, and again their setting. Therefore, although they are not Listed Buildings, these schools do contribute greatly to the built environment, so again if the original boundary treatments exist they should be retained and enhanced and not disregarded in any proposed scheme. It is this group of buildings that so often get neglected because they have no protection under listed building or conservation law. Therefore their value is often overlooked. Public buildings and spaces in this category are so important to local communities. Level Six Elsewhere there are many other schools around the County that might only appear as mediocre in design terms. However, if their locality and architectural form is important then again respect needs to be made to the boundary treatments. Level Six category sites would generally have greatest flexibility for the approach to their boundary treatments. 5. Types of fencing a) Currently there seems to be an approach that one type of fencing suits all localities and solves all problems. This is often insurance led and the proposals that emerge from such backgrounds do not always fit in with the built or rural environment. They tend to be 2.4m to 3m high and in a pallas welded mesh fencing format. It may be that some of these higher pallas fences can be used around the rear and faraway boundaries of school premises to help reduce criminal activity and intrusion into the school site. However, they are not a one for all solution and other types of boundary treatment need to be considered. b) If there is an existing railing around a school, or boundary brick or stone wall, then this should be retained and kept. In most instances attaching pallas fencing to this existing railing or walling is not appropriate. Instead, it is perhaps more appropriate to have security fencing set back within the site towards the premises or to the rear. This leaves the original

9 9 fencing to the front on public view, still positively contributing to the street scene. The secondary level of new fencing can then be more visually accommodated. c) In some instances it could be that higher historic railings be used, up to 2m in height, to enclose a school site, or an existing brick or stone wall is increased in height with appropriate reclaimed material. d) There are other forms of security fencing that can be used around premises. Perhaps the guide here is the simpler the better, so that the fence does not overstate itself in front of an important building. e) Gateways associated with fencing are equally important and therefore entranceways need to be respected as much as the fencing. It is hoped that the use of this guide enables schools to be suitably protected in a manner which appropriately reflects the setting of the individual site and its surroundings. NCC Urban Design Officer Development Control Team December 2010