The District Council has the power to designate Conservation Areas, which are defined as "areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance". Broadly, the designation of a Conservation Area means that:

• The Council can exercise a greater level of control over the merits of development to ensure it is in sympathy with its surroundings (in terms of materials, scale, etc).

• Applications for all proposed development in a Conservation Area must be advertised on site as well as in the Press.

• Conservation Area Consent is required for the demolition of all but minor structures.

• It is more likely the development will require planning permission.

• Trees are given added protection.

The Council will review these Conservation Areas from time to time and may decide to alter the boundaries of existing Conservation Areas or designate new Conservation Areas. The latest information on such reviews and any changes to boundaries will be included on this page and a descriptive leaflet is available here: Conservation Area leaflet.

A series of "Character Appraisals" has been produced for each of the District's twenty conservation areas. The documents have been formally adopted by the Council's Planning Portfolio Holder as planning policy to be used when considering development proposals within the conservation areas.

The Appraisals contain detailed descriptions of the special character and appearance of the conservation areas highlighting significant local features, important buildings and street scenes. Some features are considered " neutral" or "negative" which may require future action to bring about improvements. Also suggested enhancements are included proposing improvements to certain buildings, spaces around buildings or wider environmental works.

Finally some of the Appraisals contain suggestions to alter the existing Conservation Area boundary or introduce additional planning controls [Article 4 Directions]. Any changes to conservation area boundaries or the introduction of additional controls will be considered in the future and will be subject to separate, statutory procedures involving consultation exercises.

The District currently has 20 designated Conservation Areas, listed below.

Click on the links in the table below to view Conservation Area Appraisals, where you will find text describing the rationale behind the creation of each Conservation area, Buildings of note, Maps of the areas and Photo sheets depicting areas and buildings in their settings:-

DISCLAIMER

CONSERVATION AREA CHARACTER APPRAISALS

These Conservation Area Character Appraisals, adopted by the Council in March 2006 and appearing on this WebPage are derived from earlier documents produced for the Council by consultants Smith Stuart Reynolds in 2001. Subsequently, the Council published these documents for consultation purposes in late 2005. They were then partially updated and amended to reflect the comments received from town and parish councils and other interested parties. No comprehensive revision and updating of the 2001 documents took place.

The Council recognises that over time changes have taken place to various buildings referred to in the Appraisals so that certain comments / statements made in relation to those buildings are now, no longer applicable. For up to date information relating to planning applications, permissions or other developments on individual buildings referred to in the Appraisals you are advised to use the Council's planning public access search engine or contact Planning Services on 01255 686161

Conservation Area Management Plans

Conservation Area Management Plans are also being produced setting out various management proposals for the Conservation Areas concerned. Such proposals include the following:

• improvement to the public realm including paving and landscaping works
• additional controls over small scale domestic building alterations
• new guidance documents on a range of subjects including shopfronts, traditional doors and windows, boundary walls, trees and hedges
• design coding for new developments

Conservation Area Management Plans have been produced for Frinton, Walton , Kirby-le-Soken and Great Holland and they have been formally adopted by the Council's Planning Portfolio Holder. The documents have the status of an important "material consideration" when considering planning proposals within the four Conservation Areas

Frinton Conservation Area Management Plan

Frinton Shopfront Design Guide

This Design Guide has been formally adopted by the Council's Planning Portfolio Holder in February 2010 following a consultation during autumn 2009. The document will be treated as an important "material consideration" when considering proposals for changes to shopfronts in Frinton Conservation Area.

Walton Conservation Area Management Plan

Kirby le Soken Conservation Area Management Plan

Great Holland Conservation Area Management Plan

A Conservation Area Management Plan for Manningtree and Mistley was published for consultation on 19th January 2010. A copy of the plan can be viewed below together with the exhibition panels, which provide a summary of the main propsals. Comments were invited up to 16.00 hrs 16th February 2010.

Draft Conservation Area Management Plan for Manningtree and Mistley

Conservation Area Management Plans are also being prepared for clacton Seafront Conservation Area and St Osyth Conservation Area. Both documents will be published for consultation purposes in early 2010.