A conservation area is a place of special architectural or historic interest which needs to be preserved or enhanced.
Find out if you live in a conservation area
There are currently 85 conservation areas in the Borough. Each area has a conservation area statement, which explains why and when it was designated, plus a short history and a map showing the boundary. In addition, the Council has prepared detailed conservation studies and appraisals for a number of our conservation areas.
Download our conservation area map(pdf, 3,592KB).
See our conservation area guidance(pdf, 683KB) and supplementary planning documents and guidance for further information.
If you live in a conservation area or have an Article 4 Direction placed on your property you may need planning permission before you can extend or alter your home in a way that would normally be allowed under permitted development.
If your permitted development rights have been removed under an Article 4 Direction and you then need to apply for planning permission, you will not have to pay a planning application fee.
You no longer need to obtain conservation area consent for the demolition of an unlisted building in a conservation area. Instead, you need planning permission for ‘relevant demolition’, that is demolition of a building that is situated within a conservation area.
Relevant demolition is not:
It is an offence to carry out ‘relevant demolition’ without planning permission or compliance with relevant conditions of a planning consent, of which you can be prosecuted.
You should contact us before you carry out any work on a building within a conservation area.
Up to: Planning
Updated: 30 July 2020