Conservation areas

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990

This Act, as amended by the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2016, is the basic legislation that provides for:

• a local planning authority’s designation of an area of special architectural or historic interest as a conservation area
• an authority’s periodic formulation and publication of proposals for the preservation and enhancement of their conservation areas
• the special attention to be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of a conservation area in the exercise of planning functions
• the requirement for conservation area consent from the local authority for the demolition of a unlisted building in a conservation area
• urgent works to a building in a conservation area.

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Wales) Regulations 2012

These Regulations control a range of detailed matters relating to the application of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 including:

• conservation area consent application requirements
• issues pertaining to applications including advertisement and electronic communication
• appeals against decisions of local planning authorities
• claims for compensation
• the demolition of unlisted buildings in conservation areas.

The 2012 Regulations have been amended by the following Regulations.

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2015

These Regulations further specified the time allowed for appeals.

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2016

This Regulation made a necessary correction to the Welsh text of the 2012 Regulations.

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2017

These Regulations included amendments governing the referral of applications to the Welsh Ministers for determination and matters relating to appeals.

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Wales) (Amendment No.2) Regulations 2017

These Regulations introduced a requirement for a heritage impact statement to support listed building and conservation area consent applications, replacing a design and access statement.

A heritage impact statement is the product of a structured heritage impact assessment process. This makes sure that the significance of the historic asset is taken into account when developing proposals for change. It is a core part of the design process, which tests whether the proposals for change are appropriate by assessing their impact on significance. Access issues will still be fully considered unless the proposed works involve a private dwelling.

Visit the heritage impact assessment page for further information.

The Listed Buildings (Urgent Works) (Interest Rate on Expenses) (Wales) Order 2017

This Order establishes that any expenses incurred by a local authority during urgent works will now attract interest at Bank of England Base Rate plus 2% until recovery.

The Ecclesiastical Exemption (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Wales) Order 2018

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 exempts all ‘ecclesiastical buildings for the time being in use for ecclesiastical purposes’ in England and Wales from listed building and conservation area consent controls. The Ecclesiastical Exemption (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Wales) Order 2018 removed conservation area consent from the scope of the ecclesiastical exemption.