Conservation Areas

There are currently 16 Conservation Areas (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window) in Broxtowe covering approximately 4% of the Borough's urban areas. Each area is considered by the Council to have special qualities of local importance.

What is a Conservation Area?

Conservation Areas have been in existence nationally since 1967 and current legislation under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 imposes a duty on the Council to:

"from time to time determine which parts of their area are areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance.."

Designated Conservation Areas

The following are designated as Conservation Areas, information on these sites can be accessed through the Broxtowe Heritage Map (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window):

• Attenborough Village
• Attenborough, Barratt Lane
• Beeston, St John's Grove
• Beeston West End
• Bramcote 
• Brinsley
• Chilwell
• Chilwell Cottage Grove
• Cossall
• Eastwood
• Kimberley
• Nuthall
• Sandiacre Lock
• Stapleford, Church Street
• Stapleford, Nottingham Road
• Strelley

Planning in Conservation Areas

The designation of a Conservation Area limits the amount and type of alterations and extensions, which can be undertaken without the need for planning permission.  It also introduces control over work to trees and any demolition.

For more information, please visit the Development in Conservation Areas webpage.  If your application is in a Conservation Area we do have our own Conservation Area data that is available as open data under the Open Government Licence and you are welcome to use this against your own maps, all we ask is that you acknowledge the source of this data, this is found on our Conservation Area Broxtowe Open Layers webpage (Open in new window) (Opens in a New Window).

Conservation Area Character Appraisals

Conservation Area Character Appraisals help to preserve and enhance the character of the designated area and provide a basis for making sustainable decisions about its future.

Ideally, an appraisal should be prepared prior to designation, but this may not always be possible for existing Conservation Areas.  Involving the local community in that process is essential.

Existing appraisals:

• Attenborough Village Appraisal (.pdf) (978KB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)
• Attenborough, Barratt Lane Appraisal (.pdf) (959KB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)
• Beeston, St John's Grove Appraisal (.pdf) (2.22MB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)
• Beeston West End Appraisal (.pdf) (17.0MB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)
• Bramcote Appraisal (.pdf) (2.43MB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)
• Chilwell Cottage Grove Appraisal (.pdf) (1.01MB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)
• Eastwood Appraisal (.pdf) (4.61MB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)
• Kimberley Appraisal (.pdf) (22.0MB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)
• Stapleford, Church Street Appraisal (.pdf) (3.15MB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)
• Stapleford, Nottingham Road Appraisal (.pdf) (3.15MB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)

Article 4 Directions

An Article 4 direction allows local planning authorities to restrict Permitted Development Rights to control development that otherwise would not need planning permission.

There are three Article 4 Directions in our area:

• Cossall Article 4 Direction (.pdf) (1.23MB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)
• Kimberley Article 4 Direction (.pdf) (1.86MB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)
• Strelley Article 4 Direction (.pdf) (3.20MB) (Opens in a New Window) (Opens in a New Window)

The properties to which a direction applies, and the classes of development which are to be brought under control, are considered carefully. Permitted Development (PD) rights are withdrawn in exceptional circumstances, where there is a real and specific issue to address, such as the replacement of windows in a Conservation Area.

The top threats which might justify Article 4 Directions include: plastic windows and doors; loss of front garden walls, fences and hedges; unsightly satellite dishes; alterations to the fronts, roofs and chimneys of buildings; unsympathetic extensions and impact of advertisements.

Trees

Conservation Area designation protects all trees within the boundary from topping, lopping or felling by requiring owners to give the Council six weeks notice of their intention to carry out any such tree works.

The Council will inspect the tree concerned and decide whether a Tree Protection Order (TPO) is merited to ensure the tree's long term future.  For more information visit the Trees page.