The Leigh Society is a consultee in respect of all applications
within the 4 Leigh Conservation Areas. Our Planning Panel comments
every month on applications ranging from very minor extensions
and changes to properties to the much larger more controversial
applications which affect the town.
Southend Borough Council are the Planning Authority for the
area and have a number of policies relating to the Town. The
Society is represented on the Borough Council’s Conservation
Working Party.
Leigh Town Council has its own vision for Leigh and is a fellow
consultee on applications.
The Leigh Society is also a founder member of the Southend-on-Sea
Conservation Forum, along with Milton Conservation Society,
Shoebury Society and Southend Society. This group has the aim
of promoting good design and development in the conservation
areas and educating the public on what it means to live in a
conservation area. The Group works closely with the Borough
Council on conservation issues.
 |
WHAT YOU NEED TO
KNOW ABOUT LIVING IN A LEIGH
CONSERVATION AREA
Leigh is under great pressure for development of all kinds,
but particularly house extensions and flats. But it is sometimes
the little, seemingly innocuous developments which cause problems
and if allowed to go unchecked can lead to harm to the conservation
areas. So if you live in a conservation area what can’t
you do?
Leigh’s four conservation areas are ‘Old Town’,
‘Leigh Cliffs’, Leigh (which covers a large area
of the town) and Chapmanslord (which covers the area around
Canvey Road). Details of all of these areas can be found on
the Borough Council’s web site www.southend.go.uk.
Conservation Area Consent is required for the demolition of
a building in a conservation area (demolition of part of a
building is more complicated and you should seek advice on
this) and works to any tree within the area whether or not
it is subject to a tree preservation order.
It is too complicated here to go into what requires planning
permission as many minor changes do not, advice should be
sought from the Borough Council’s Planning Department,
but if you live in a conservation area the rules are more
stringent and you will need permission to do the following
–
• Enlarge your house by an addition or alteration to
its roof
• Provide within the curtilage of your house any building
or enclosure, swimming or other pool required for a purpose
incidental to the enjoyment of the house as such, or the maintenance,
improvement or other alteration of such a building or enclosure
if it would consist of the provision, alteration or improvement
of a building with a cubic content of more than 10 cu m (the
same rule applies to this type of development within the curtilage
of a listed building).
• Install, alter or replace a microwave antenna (i.e.
satellite dish) on a chimney, wall or roof slope which faces
on to and is visible from the highway or on a building which
exceeds 15m in height. (be aware that even if you are not
in a conservation area there are also restrictions on the
size of antenna you can install without planning permission)
There are certain types of development for which you do not
normally need to apply for planning permission, these are
called permitted development.
The Council has the power to withdraw rights for permitted
development by making an Article 4 Direction. This does not
mean necessarily that you cannot have permission, but that
you must apply for it so that the Council can control inappropriate
development. The Leigh Conservation Areas are subject to Article
4 Directions in respect of certain types of development and
you will need to apply for planning permission for these.
Also some specific buildings in the Conservation Areas have
additional restrictions so
IF IN DOUBT – CHECK IT OUT
Of course the other type of special buildings we have in Leigh
are listed buildings and these are subject to very stringent
regulations. The planning rules are different when it comes
to listed buildings.
Generally speak planning permission is not required for internal
alterations to a property, although you may need Building
Regulation approval, for instance if you want to knock down
a load bearing wall – always check with the building
inspector at the Council. Failure to get the necessary Building
Regulation approval can lead to complications when you come
to sell. BUT you will need listed
building consent to demolish a listed building or any part
of it, or alter it in any way which would affect its character,
INSIDE OR OUTSIDE so
get specialist advice.
In addition the Borough Council has placed several buildings
on its local list – these are not listed buildings in
the national sense but are buildings the Borough wants to
take special care over. This type of listing may very well
become more common and have official status if the Government’s
heritage proposals are adopted.
Enforcement
The Council has the power to take enforcement action against
any breaches of planning and conservation controls. Fines
are heavy and you could end up in court.
For planning there are time limits within which they can do
this. However for Listed Buildings there are no such limits
and a listed building enforcement notice can be served at
any time even if the person who did the work is no longer
in the property. This also applies to demolition of a building
in the conservsation area. So if you buy a listed building
always make sure that any works which have been done to it
were done with the consent of the Council.
|
