Conservation areas

St. James area, boundary features

The Council has made a direction under Article 4(2) of the Town and Country (General Permitted Development) Order which removes certain permitted development rights for the following properties in the St. James area: 1 to 67 (odd) St James Road, 2 to 68 (even) St James Road, 60 to 70 (even) Albion Road, 19A and 21 Granville Road, 1 to 65 (odd) Beulah Road, 2 to 60 (even) Beaulah Road, 52A St James Park, 1 to 9 Georgia Place and Church House, Ferndale.  This direction means that planning permission is required for the provision of a hard surface, usually to the front of the house, or the erection, construction, maintenance, improvement or alteration of a gate, fence, wall or any other means of enclosure that faces a highway, no matter what the height.

Consents

If you live in a conservation area you should check what permissions may be required for any development proposals, including works to trees.

Duties

The Council, together with other agencies and the local community, are the stewards of these important historic assets so that future generations may also be able to enjoy them.

Residents and business people who live and work in such areas take responsibility for maintaining their properties and their gardens, and it is these combined elements which help to maintain the character and appearance of conservation areas.

Research shows that people place a high value on the historic environment – the places in which we live are in many cases layered with years and years of human activity. Each generation inherits this sense of place and should make decisions about the future based on the historic context of this inheritance.

Local authorities are given powers to designate conservation areas as a way of recognising their special character, whether it is architectural, historic, or different combinations of both. It is a celebration of unique characteristics of a neighbourhood or place, which seeks to maintain this without trying to preserve it unchanged. Conservation Area Appraisals are a first step to this in clearly identifying what it is about the character or appearance that should be preserved, but also what could be managed and enhanced, and then setting out the means by which that objective is to be pursued.

The Council's role also is to ensure that development preserves or enhances the historic and architectural character and appearance of conservation areas by promoting good design and applying additional controls over development where appropriate.

It is the aim of the Council to involve residents in the appraisal exercises and to promote community-led appraisal work where possible. Historic England provides detailed guidance on this in their Conservation Areas and Your Home web pages.

Energy efficiency and historic buildings

Historic buildings, including listed buildings, are almost always able to accommodate appropriate measures to make them more energy efficient. The Historic England website has a series of free to download publications with further advice on the various measures that can be taken, and what may need consent.

Development in conservation areas

The council must pay special regard to planning proposals in conservation areas to ensure that any change is compatible with its architectural and historic quality and it's setting.

It is advisable to check whether permission is required for any proposals beforehand. Pre-application advice is available, or you can check about common types of work on the Planning Portal website.

There are certain additional controls within conservation areas that are aimed at managing change in a way that ensures the special character is not harmed - unsympathetic additions or alterations could diminish the local character that warranted designation.

Planning permission is required, where it would not be required if the property was not located in a conservation area, for the following:

• total or substantial demolition of a building over 115 cubic metres in volume
• total demolition of a wall, gate, fence, or railing over one meter in height next to a highway (this can include a footpath) or two meters in height in any other location
• cladding external walls of a house with stone, artificial stone, pebble dash, render, timber, plastics or tiles
• roof additions or alterations (such as a dormer window), on any part of a house
• house side extensions and rear extensions higher than one storey
• works to trees (rather than planning permission, this is just a formal notification to the council which gives the authority time to raise an objection if appropriate, prior to the work being carried out)
• installation of a flue, chimney, or soil and vent pipe on any elevation or roof slope of a house which faces a highway
• installation of a microwave antenna (such as a satellite dish) on a chimney, wall, or roof slope of a house that faces onto, and is visible from a highway - there are more detailed requirements for number, type and location of antenna on the Planning Portal website
• installation of a microwave antenna on any part of a house that exceeds 15 meters in height
• installation of a solar panel on any wall of a house that faces a highway; new detached enclosures, containers, and pools to the side of a house