CH4 Bidston Village Conservation Area Policy
In relation to Bidston Village Conservation Area the principal planning objectives for the area will be to:
(i) preserve the rural character of the historic village and the visual separation of the village from the modern, built-up areas nearby;
(ii) retain the character, scale and setting of remaining agricultural buildings and cottages;
(iii) preserve unifying features of design, such as window treatments, stone parapets, gabled entrance porches, the mix between brick and stone as building materials, and stone boundary walls; and
(iv) retain tree-belts on the lower slopes of Bidston Hill behind Bidston Hall, and on land between Lennox Lane and Bidston Village Road.
Priority will be given to retaining primarily rural land-uses within the precincts of Church Farm, Ivy Farm, Yew Tree Farm and Bidston Hall Farm, and to retaining the open aspect of land between Boundary Road and Bidston Hall, and at the junction of Lennox Lane and Bidston Village Road.
Reasoned justification :
11.14 Bidston Village Conservation Area was designated in 1972 and was the first Conservation Area to be designated within the Borough. Its boundaries are principally drawn around the original linear settlement but also includes areas of open land and woodland which provide an important separation between the village and the areas of modern development nearby.
11.15 The village is early medieval in origin and was the ancient parochial centre for a wide area stretching as far as Moreton, Saughall Massie and Claughton. However, today the village retains the character and appearance of a traditional rural English village. This character principally derives from buildings such as St. Oswald's Church, and the collection and design of modest cottages, and farmhouses, with their associated outbuildings and paddock areas.
11.16 The objective of Policy CH4 is to preserve features which contribute towards the distinctive historic character of the village, reinforce the sense of separation between the village and the surrounding area, and which retain the agricultural character and setting of former farm buildings to the north and south of Bidston Village Road. This includes the preservation of predominantly rural land-uses within the remaining areas of open land.