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Environment 

Effects of conservation area designation

The principal purpose of conservation area designation is the acknowledgement of the special character of an area. This will influence the way in which the Local Planning Authority deals with planning applications that may affect the area. Within conservation areas, permitted development rights are restricted, which means that applications for planning permission will be required for certain types of work that would not normally need consent. For further information please see the Planning Portal or the General Development Order on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s website by following the links on the right.

The principal way in which the local planning authority tries to influence change in a conservation area is through the planning process. Certain categories of work need planning permission when they affect buildings or structures in a conservation area.

Listed below are examples of types of development that require applications for planning permission or conservation area consent. Please bear in mind that the list is not exhaustive.

  • Demolition of all, and in some cases part, of any building or structure
  • An extension that exceeds 50 cubic metres or 10% of the volume of the original house as it was first built or as it stood on the first of July 1948
  • Cladding any part of the outside of a building with materials such as stone, artificial stone, timber, plastic or tile
  • Any addition or alteration to the shape of a roof, such as the addition of a dormer window
  • An extension or alteration to any structure within the grounds of a building, with a cubic content greater that 10 cubic metres, such as a garden shed
  • Positioning a satellite dish on a wall, roof or chimney that faces a road or public space
  • Tighter controls over advertisements
  • Trees within conservation areas with stem diameters of 75mm or greater, measured at 1.5m above ground are protected. Anyone wishing to work on these trees must normally give six weeks written notice to the Local Authority. Replacement planting duties may apply.