Article 4 and conservation areas

[indus]

Sorry more conservation area questions.

I had a chat to my lpa today and want to check some of the stuff she told me with you guys.

1) After conservation area status is signed off for an area PD rights are not immediately withdrawn. An article 4 process needs to take place and this takes months. So there will be a significant period of time after the area becomes a conservation area when all PD rights still exist.

2) Even after the article 4 process has been signed off it doesn't mean ALL PD rights are fully withdrawn. In an example she gave me of another cons area she said outbuildings would still NOT require PP as long as they did not exceed 25% of surface area and were 2m from all boundaries. So in other words stricter than usual PD rules but still can be done without PP.

Does this sound right?

Many thanks for your help.

 

[jeds]

What she says is right. Conservation area status and article 4 directions are two different things and a lot of conservation areas don't have article 4 directions at all. The ones that do normally restrict things like replacement windows, rendering and sometimes the colour of your front door. Generally this is in very special areas like The Crescent in Bath. It is unusual to have a blanket restriction on minor development and even if they did you can simply apply (free of charge) and they need a really strong reason to turn you down. More than the normal reasons. Applying for planning in article 4 restricted areas is 99% of the time a formality.

Did they indicate that they were intending to apply for an articel 4 direction? If so they ought to tell you what they are applying for so you'd know well in advance.

 

[indus]

Hi Jeds.

I think I originally got confused by this because whenever I read things about PD they always implied that cons areas and national parks were exempt. I got the impression from these sources that in a conservation area all PD rights were automatically withdrawn.

Now I understand from the LA and you guys that is not the case. Just so I am clear, cons area on its own means nothing in terms of PD, all rights remain.

Article 4 can then be used to remove or modify some of these PD rights.

Jeds, the duty planner did not say that they were intending to use article 4 but I'm pretty sure they will. She did say however that even if article 4 was to be used then the issue needs to go back out to consultation so it will take quite a bit more time.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[jeds]

That's right except PD rights are generally slightly different in conservation areas. e.g. in a conservation area loft extensions are limited to 40m³ instead of 50m³. But this is across the board. The article 4 direction is what the local authority uses to modify PD rights for a particular local area.

 

[indus]

Thanks Jeds, I think it all makes sense now.

Just out of interest, talking about lofts, could article 4 be used to limit the size and position of dormers (and roof lights)?

The reason I ask is that in the consultation documents produced relating to turning my precinct into a cons area they cited certain 'bad practices' that they want to stop. One of these bad practices was the sizes of dormers.

Cheers

 

[jeds]

Dormers might well come under attack. The planning departments I deal with regularly certainly hate the PD rules that allow big box dormers and hip to gable conversions. But the key thing about article 4 directions is that they have to get it past the inspector and they have to have VERY good reasons for wanting to introduce more severe restrictions. It can lead to compensation to homeowners who become disadvantaged by restrictions so they are very careful about it.

 

[indus]

Thanks Jeds.

Yes box dormers and hip to gables is exactly what seems to wind them up. So much so that in this consultation document they had actually printed photographs of real houses in the area that they cited as being unsympathetically extended! Very embarrasing if you happen to be the owner of that house lol.

Luckily just after that document was printed I stuck a big dormer on the back of my house and did a hip to gable conversion lol

Thanks again and have a good weekend