Planning application at historic Villa Farm site in Norton Disney sparks concern from history and archaeology group

Two semi-detached bungalows and multiple farm buildings are currently on the land, and are in a state of disrepair.

The Norton Disney History and Archaeology group have concerns about the effect the development would have on what they describe as an archaeologically rich area.

The historical area of Potters Hill ­— which includes the Villa Farm site ­— is home to the Roman Villa, an Iron Age settlement, Roman tracks and roads and evidence of Iron Age smelting.

Concerns have been raised regarding the effect the development would have on the overall setting of the historical environment and the direct impact on the site.

Secretary Richard Parker said: "It is a very special landscape and a very sensitive landscape."

The group have submitted a 26-page letter to the council, outlining the archaeological concerns relating to the site.

The letter claims that the applicant does not have all the information relevant for the submitted heritage assessment to be accurate or reliable and is based on a 2017 geophysical survey which excludes a portion of Villa Farm.

The heritage assessment ­— submitted as part of the application ­— concluded that the study site is assessed to have had a moderate potential for Iron Age and/or Roman archaeological remains and these are most likely severely truncated or removed entirely within the footprints of the existing buildings and the potential additional impact of the proposed development is considered to be minor overall. The potential for remains of all other periods for any significant remains to be preserved within the study site is assessed to be low/negligible.

However, members of the group have carried out extensive research to the area surrounding Villa Farm in the past three years, and have conducted geophysical surveys and a two-day excavation of their own and based on these works, they believe there to be a high probability that Roman or Iron Age artefacts are present within the development site.

The group also believe the plans are contrary to the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan 2017.

The plan states that development affecting archaeological remains, whether known or potential, designated or undesignated, should take every practical and reasonable step to protect and, where possible, enhance their significance.

Planning applications for such development should be accompanied by an appropriate and proportionate assessment to understand the potential for and significance of remains, and the impact of development upon them.

If initial assessment does not provide sufficient information, developers will be required to undertake field evaluation in advance of determination of the application.

This may include a range of techniques for both intrusive and non-intrusive evaluation, as appropriate to the site.

The submitted document states that in line with the Local Plan archaeology policy, the Heritage Statement provides the appropriate and proportionate archaeological assessment and clarifies the site’s archaeological potential.

However, the Archaeology group feel that the planning application is in breach of this plan as they consider the survey to be insufficient for the site, and no plans have been made in the application to investigate the site further as the submitted assessment concluded that due to the nature and size of the study site, no further field evaluation is considered necessary to inform the current planning application.

The group disputes this and is calling for a geophysical survey and excavation work to be undertaken on the site prior to development.

Mr Parker added: "We want the council to find out precisely what is under the building plot before any more decisions are made."

Myk Flitcroft from RPS Group, author of the heritage report for the application, said: "The History and Archaeology Group have passed copies of their results on to the county council Historic Environment Record (HER), but the reports were still sitting in a backlog at the HER and weren’t included when they sent us our data-search last month.

"I’ve now had copies of the reports sent to me, and have been able to review the additional results.

"The geophysical surveys undertaken by the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group in 2020 to 2021 investigated the field on the east side of Folly Lane south of the Scheduled Monument, opposite the current development site, and a second field to the east, between the Scheduled Monument and Hill Holt Wood. The trial trenching was designed to test the geophysical survey results in the field east of our development site.

"The survey & trial trenching confirmed the presence of probable Iron Age/Roman period settlement remains in the area immediately east of Folly Lane, east of the development site. This area of settlement had however previously been identified from features seen on aerial photographs and is not a significant new discovery.

"The recent results add useful additional detail to the understanding of the buried archaeology in the area, but largely corroborate the results of previous survey work, and I am happy that our assessment of the development site’s archaeological potential and the possible impact of the residential development proposal remain valid and correct.

"An addendum statement to the submitted Heritage Statement will now be submitted to the Local Planning Authority outlining that this additional baseline information was not available previously but has been brought to our attention and has been reviewed.

"Following this review the original and submitted Heritage Statement conclusions are still considered valid."

The applicant has been approached for comment.