We provided heritage advice on the Regeneration Masterplan, Outline and Detailed Planning and Listed Building Applications and Environmental Statement for a 350 Home Residential Led Mixed Use Scheme at HMS Daedalus, a derelict military base with a long history as a WW1 naval seaplane base.
The site is largely vacant with the exception of the use of two listed hangars which house the Hovercraft Museum and Princess Anne hovercraft, the largest passenger hovercraft in existence.
From the outset, we completed a literature review of existing documentation, adding to this through our own site surveys and further research including archival visits. At this early stage, we also prepared a detailed Building Gazetteer, covering the 33 heritage assets on the site, providing a reference point for the wider team and enhancing the understanding of the buildings.
We designed and held two Public Exhibitions, one within the Princess Anne Hovercraft, and a second at a local church. We advised on the content of the exhibition boards and attended both day events, speaking to members of the public about their memories of Daedalus, what it means to them, and their thoughts on the proposed regeneration plans.
Throughout the project, we worked closely with Gosport’s Conservation Officer, with site visits in addition to further virtual calls to discuss design approaches and our responses to feedback. We were able to foster an extremely positive relationship with officers which helped to secure their support for the proposals.
Engagement with Historic England began following two heritage focused pre-application meetings with Local Authority Conservation Officers. Historic England could see the design progression within our presentation to them and this fostered trust between themselves and the project team. A meeting on site with Historic England ensued, and we then worked closely with them to explain design rationale, problems and opportunities, and build a picture of the wider benefits of the scheme, which included the loss of three positive contributors to the Conservation Area.
Overall, it was agreed by Historic England that with some minor design tweaks to aspects of the project, the loss of some non-designated heritage assets was justified in order to achieve the wider public benefits of the project, including economic regeneration and the delivery of social value, in addition to enhancement of the condition of buildings at risk of being lost without investment.
This element of the works required our understanding of viability and the limitations of the project, with the need to balance regeneration aims, viability and heritage impact. This project demonstrated the benefits of our multi-disciplinary expertise. We presented a holistic case and justification which considered both planning and heritage priorities and arrived at balanced conclusions supported by policy, legislation and case law. Our value to this project is really emphasised within this interrelated planning and heritage context.
Summary of achievements:
- Comprehensive heritage advice throughout the design process and preparation of Heritage Chapter within Environmental Statement.
- Use of our multi-disciplinary experience to present a holistic and well justified case, including the demolition of non-designated heritage assets.
- Successful liaison with Conservation Officers and Historic England at pre-application leading to support at application stage.
