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A conservation area is formally defined as:
The area will usually constitute the 'historic core' of an area. The area will likely contain a number of listed buildings, which each have their own protection.
Most buildings within a conservation area may be unlisted, but are still important. They provide the setting for listed buildings, and may enclose interesting spaces - or form a group - in their own right.
For more information about listed buildings and conservation areas, please refer to our third party Heritage resources.
We, as the local planning authority, designate conservation areas within our district.
An area may be designated as a conservation area, due to the number of listed buildings it contains.
However, they may contain other special characteristics, such as:
There are 31 conservation areas in Mid Suffolk.
We have adopted 31 conservation area appraisals as non-statutory supplementary planning guidance.
If you own a property that's within a conservation area, you will be subject to more planning restrictions than usual.
Even if your property or building is not a listed building, it may have interesting features.
These features might be traditional materials, or local building details. You building may also belong to a group of buildings which together, have a special visual quality.
This means that it will be both visually and financially rewarding to take care with any alterations that you make.
These alterations could include changes to:
Please remember that once an interesting feature has been lost, it may be impossible (or very expensive) to recreate it.
We may remove permitted development rights in a conservation area if Article 4(2) Directions is applicable.
We can use Article 4 Directions to exert tighter controls on changes to the outside of houses (that face a road or open space), which could damage the character and appearance of the conservation area.
They mean that you would need planning permission to carry out minor works that would normally be automatically permitted.
The works might be:
However, the planning applications carry no fee.
Permitted development rights can also be removed by the conditions of a planning permission.
There is one conservation area in our district where Article4(2) Directions apply - it is in Felsham
Trees in conservation areas have special protection.
Access our interactive map to check which trees in our district have a Tree Preservation Order.
Please also read our interactive map's terms and conditions.
To find out more about trees in conservation areas, please read our additional information on trees here