Blakeney Rectory: can we save it?

On 21 January 2017, North Norfolk District Council’s Development Committee voted unanimously to allow the demolition of the former Blakeney Rectory, located near the church of St Nicholas in Blakeney, and to allow the construction of a considerably larger replacement structure designed in an aggressively modernist idiom, as well as the construction of a tennis court where the Rectory’s gardens stand at present. The planning permission was issued the following day.

The NNDC backed this development proposal despite substantial community objections based on sound planning reasons. Nearly 50 objections were posted on the NNDC’s own website, virtually all of them from local people, with only a single email of support for it. Substantial evidence was also submitted to explain why demolition and its replacement house design would neither preserve nor enhance the Conservation Area, an argument echoed by national conservation bodies SAVE Britain’s Heritage and the C20th Society.

The NNDC Conservation Officer, belatedly, also rejected a request for the current building to be locally listed despite acknowledging ‘the prominent position of this building when approaching from the south from Wiveton and long distance views from the south west’.

Within Blakeney and other nearby villages, the decision has been greeted with surprise, consternation and real sadness. At church the other morning, one resident recalled the many happy social occasions she and others had attended at the Rectory over many decades, while another spoke movingly of her memories of the place, which included making her wedding plans there, more than half a century ago.

For while the evidence submitted to the NNDC provided a wealth of information regarding the architectural significance of the building — the Rev. David Lee Elliott had commissioned the design from local architect John Page, of Holtom & Page, in 1925, specifically to complement the nearby Old Rectory (Grade II*) which Lee Elliott had recently purchased from the diocese — what it cannot fully reveal is the strength with which many long-time local residents feel that this handsome if slightly neglected old building is part of their own personal heritage. The idea of demolishing it, just to replace it with an assertive eyesore marring a sensitive and historic location, appalls them.

Furthermore we have serious concerns regarding NNDC’s approach to this application, particularly in light of the strong national and local planning policy grounds highlighted by many of the objectors to the proposal. For instance, neither Glaven Valley nor Blakeney Conservation Area has a Conservation Area Appraisal which would have allowed proper assessment of the contribution made by the former Rectory to the surrounding landscape and the conservation area. Notification of the application to local residents was at the absolute legal minimum, so many residents remained unaware of the application until very late in the day, in numerous cases until after the formal consultation period was finished. No wonder people in the area are so frustrated by the result.

Is there anything that can be done to save Blakeney Rectory? So many local people would prefer to see the old building sensitively restored and lived in once again as a family home, its pretty gardens still alive with the birds, hares and other wildlife that enjoy its quiet, old-fashioned, low-key ambience. This, not showy trophy homes, is what Blakeney is — or at least used to be — all about.

Here at North Norfolk Planning Watch, we are considering various options. Stay tuned for further developments.