Ayr Central Conservation Area Management Plan - South Ayrshire ...

Ayr Central Conservation Area Draft Management Plan
• Written notice must be given to the Council before works are carried out
to any tree in the area, subject to minor exceptions;
• The Council or the Scottish Ministers may be able to take steps to
ensure that a building in a conservation area is kept in good repair
through the use of Urgent Works Notices;
• Powers exist for local authorities, Historic Scotland or the Heritage
Lottery Fund to provide financial grant schemes to assist with the
repair of buildings in conservation areas.
Further specific controls, known as ‘Article 4’ and ‘Control of Advertisements’
Directions, extend the requirement for planning permission for certain types of
work in Ayr Central Conservation Area. Details of the Article 4 and Control of
Advertisements Directions are set out in sections 4.3 and 4.4 below.
Where sites/monuments are scheduled or buildings are listed in the
conservation area, normal Scheduled Monument Consent or Listed Building
Consent for works is required.
2.3
Designation of Ayr Central Conservation Area
The Ayr Central Conservation Area was originally designated in 1969. The
boundaries were revised in 1976 and 1980. Article 4 Directions were approved
on 22 March 1977 and revisions approved on 11 February 1982. A Control of
Advertisements Direction was approved on 27 April 1983. The conservation
area was classified as ‘outstanding’ for the purposes of grant-aid by the
Historic Buildings Council for Scotland (former advisory body to the Secretary
of State for Scotland and subsequently the Scottish Ministers) in 1978.
2.4
Boundaries
The current boundary of the conservation area (section 1 map) contains the
medieval core of the town, the Citadel, and the villa areas as far south as Miller
Road; there is a substantial ‘exclusion zone’ within the area that takes account
of the modern developments and gap sites at the back of the High Street
around Carrick Street, Boswell Park and Dalblair Road. Amendments to the
boundary are proposed at Appendix H of the Character Appraisal – the
consultation and adoption processes form part of this Plan (section 4.2).
2.5
Summary of other statutory designations
The historical and architectural importance of Ayr Central Conservation Area is
reflected in the concentration of listed buildings in the area: 268 items are
included on the Statutory List, of which 11 are of national importance
(Category A), 127 are of regional importance (Category B), and 130 are of local
importance (Category C(S)). Listed items can include more than one property
(e.g. a terrace of houses or a tenements of flats), therefore the total number of
properties protected by statutory listing is considerably higher than the
headline figure suggests. In addition, parts of the Citadel walls are scheduled
under the Ancient Monuments & Archaeological Areas Act 1979, indicating
their national importance.
Whilst not statutorily designated in their own right, several areas of public open
space are also of historical interest and amenity value. There are no designated
designed landscapes or Tree Preservation Orders within the conservation area.
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