by David O’Connor, Director
A key aim of HCEL is to preserve the heritage and character of the Estate, so that it continues to be a desirable place to live and encourages the community-focused spirit that Collins wished to create through his buildings and communal spaces. This raises two related questions: should HCEL try to preserve the Estate as it was originally constructed? If not, to what extent should changes to the Estate be allowed?
The Company’s position is that preserving properties exactly as they were built would be an unnecessarily rigid interpretation of conservation, and increasingly difficult to justify. However, this policy makes it more challenging to preserve the character of the Estate, not least because different people have different views about which features are important. If every homeowner, wishing to make a property alteration, was allowed to argue that their proposed change is harmless there is a danger that, cumulatively, the Estate would lose the architectural coherence that justified its conservation status in the first place. While the “Appraisal and Management Plan for Ethelburt Avenue (Bassett Green Estate) Conservation Area” remains the primary guide to such changes, new developments mean that the Company continues to spend a considerable amount of time on the topic.