Land between West Street, Bath Street, Royal Pier Road and Queen ...

than for St George’s Church, with the latter located at the heart of the Western Quarter proposals.The setting of this Church can be seen as its relationship to the wider town of Gravesend and theRiver Thames beyond. The Grade II Listed Statue of Princess Pocahontas stands within thechurchyard and may be considered as comprising a more contained setting.Members will recall that a previous application for development of this area was refused consent inpart due to the adverse impact upon the setting of the Church by reason of the height, bulk andmassing of the development. This is an aspect of the current scheme that has since evolvedsignificantly and now has the support of English Heritage, which is the statutory authority on suchmatters. The changes proposed essentially include enlarging the space around the Church bystepping away the inward facing elevations of the new buildings, as well as by stepping back theupper residential levels to provide further separation. As commented by English Heritage “theeastern face of the mall is pulled back significantly, thereby improving the relationship with thehistoric church by giving it a more respectful space in which to be seen and appreciated.”English Heritage comment further that the “suggested colonnade treatment at ground level at thisinterface is also likely to provide a more comfortable relationship between the scale of the modernretail development and the sensitive setting of the church.” A further positive element of theproposal is that the indicative public realm proposals now provide for not only the retention butalso the exposure of the historic western boundary wall of the churchyard that will emphasise theseparation between the tranquil churchyard and the new vibrant public space surrounding it. Inaddition, the principle that the new buildings are designed and orientated to face towards theChurch, thus making it the focus of the area, is entirely appropriate and in accordance with theDevelopment Brief which seeks to improve its setting. The demolition of the adjacent brickenclosed substation will further enhance the setting of the Church and will provide an attractivebackdrop to the enhanced amenity space proposed.Turning to views, when viewed from the River Thames the town’s skyline is generally defined byone strong and continuous horizontal line punctuated at intervals by the spires and towers ofpublic buildings, particularly churches. In conjunction with amendments to enhance the immediatesetting of St George’s Church, the applicant has also made considerable efforts through reducingthe mass and height of new buildings in both quarters to ensure that the Church spire is retainedas a principal element in that skyline. It is recognised that the proposals are particularly successfulin this regard as in views from the river the new buildings could be described as “cradling” theChurch spire and as commented by English Heritage “the visibility of the spire is not diminished forvirtually the whole panorama as one travels east to west along Gravesend Reach”.Although more immediate views of the Church spire from Clifton Road and The Terrace will beaffected, on balance English Heritage have accepted the loss which will in part be offset by thecreation of an enhanced view from within the St George’s shopping centre itself as the existingunit and canopy opposite Sports Direct is to be demolished as part of the proposals. It is alsonoted that the layout of the Western Quarter buildings provides for glimpsed views to be retainedand in some respects enhanced, particularly the approaches from the passenger ferry and theTown Pier.It is concluded therefore that the current proposal positively enhances the setting of the Grade II*Listed St George’s Church.A second reason for refusal of the previous application concerned the adverse impacts of theheight, bulk and massing of the development upon the character of the adjoining High StreetConservation Area. The significance for the setting of the listed High Street buildings is theirassociation with the High Street and the assessment here relates principally to the impact uponthe character and appearance of that Conservation Area. This consideration relates principally tothe Eastern Quarter built development proposals and has formed part of English Heritage’s remitfor comment. Although not objecting previously, English Heritage did note some concern about the