Four Conservation Areas In Chiswick To Undergo Appraisal
Council consulting on ways to safeguard heritage areas
Chiswick House, Turnham Green, Grove Park and Stamford Brook are amongst the six areas in the borough selected to undergo a conservation area appraisal by Hounslow Council.
Conservation area designation introduces a number of additional controls on development within the area, including demolition of buildings, tree protection orders, and planning regulations.
Chiswick House was first designated a conservation area in 1977 but it has not been updated since. It opened to the public in 1958 and is now in the care of English Heritage; the Chiswick
House and Gardens Trust manages the grounds. In the late 2000s the gardens underwent
an ambitious programme of restoration and regeneration. Key focal points of the garden
were restored, important buildings and views reestablished, a new café and play area created,
miles of paths renewed and over 1600 new trees planted.
The programme of updating conservation area appraisals helps to ensure that the council is fulfilling its duty in the management and stewardship of the historic environment.
The Spatial Planning and Infrastructure Team has started a programme of producing new conservation area appraisals for all of Hounslow’s conservation areas.
The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 provides specific
protection for buildings and areas of special interest.
The council as the local planning authority has a duty (under section 69) to consider which parts of the borough are ‘areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance and should be designated as conservation areas’.
Draft appraisals will be produced in batches over time. The six conservation area appraisals
they will be consulting on in this round are:
Hanworth Park
Chiswick House
Stamford Brook
Grove Park
Woodlands Grove
Turnham Green
Consultation will take place from October – December 2019, and the Council will be sending a letter to all residents within the conservation areas above to inform them of the consultation and invite their comments. The consultation process will enable residents, businesses, key stakeholders, and those with an interest in the CAAs and the historic environment in Hounslow to comment on the draft CAAs.
More information on consultations can be found on the heritage consultation webpage or on the council’s consultation page.
When adopted, the six CAAs will be a material consideration to the determination of planning applications and Secretary of State decisions in the respective conservation areas.
Conservation area reappraisal and re-designation allows the Council to ensure, through the planning system, that the special quality and value identified in these areas is evaluated to current standards and will be protected.
Conservation area designation means that the development within the area is more closely controlled to ensure that the area is preserved and enhanced. The Town and County (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 outlines how permitted development rights that exist generally are restricted in conservation areas. Work that will require an application for planning permission in a conservation area includes:
· Demolition of all, and in some cases part, of any building or structure.
· An extension that extends beyond the side wall of the building.
· Any two-storey extension.
· Cladding any part of the outside of a building with materials such as stone, artificial stone, timber, plastic or tile.
· Any enlargement or extension to a roof, such as the addition of a dormer window.
· An extension or alteration to any structure within the grounds of a building, if it is to the side of the house.
· The installation of a flue, chimney or soil and vent pipe if it would face a road and is on the side or front of the building.
· Positioning a satellite dish on a wall, roof or chimney that faces a road or public space.
· Solar panels on a wall that faces the road.
· Tighter controls over advertisements.
· Trees within conservation areas with stem diameters of 75mm or greater, measured at 1.5m above ground are protected. Anyone wishing to work on these trees must normally give six weeks written notice to the Local Authority.
Additionally, copies of the draft appraisals can be found in local libraries. If anyone does not have access to the internet and requires a paper response form these are available, please call the conservation team at 020 8583 5207 to request one.
November 20, 2019