Building Conservation and Restoration

Introduction

This section provides advice on the conservation and restoration of historic buildings in the borough.  There are currently 18 Conservation Areas and more than 890 listed buildings in the town.

There are three levels of control:

Conservation areas:

Conservation Areas are areas of special architectural and historic interest, where it is desirable to preserve or enhance the character or appearance. In these areas there are special controls over the external appearance of existing properties and new development.

Listed Buildings

A Listed Building is described as listed when it is considered to be of sufficient historic or architectural interest to merit special protection. Controls on listed buildings are stricter than for unlisted buildings in conservation areas and the inside is affected as well as the outside.

Article 3 Directions

An Article 3 Direction removes permitted development rights for most forms of development if an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required. There are currently no Article 3 Directions in Hastings Borough.

Article 4 Directions

Article 4 Directions are served when an owner is required to submit an application for works that would otherwise fall outside planning control. This enables the Council to exercise more control to protect the historic and architectural character of the town. In many cases works can be done to individual properties without the need to make a planning application.

Seeking advice

Owners should always seek professional advice before carrying out repairs or alterations to a listed building that might affect its architectural or historic character.  A number of visually important non-listed buildings are subject to additional Article 4 controls.  This brings under planning control quite minor changes to the external appearance of a building which would otherwise be permitted development.

The Development Control or Conservation sections will advise if a building is listed, lies within a conservation area or is subject to other planning controls.  General advice on conservation matters is also available by emailing planning@hastings.gov.uk. 

These websites provide resources about building conservation and restoration: 

• historicengland.org.uk - Maintenance - maintenance and repair of historic buildings
• historicengland.org.uk - Advice - advice on heritage protection.

Enforcement

Alterations or building works that are carried out without permission may have to be removed if the Council takes enforcement action.  It is important, therefore that advice is always sought prior to undertaking any works to the outside of the property.

Policies and Promotion of Conservation

The Hastings Local Plan contains policies and proposals to preserve and enhance the architectural and historic character of Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas.

More detailed advice in respect of architectural features, such as doors windows and roofs is given in Supplemental Planning Guidance Notes which are obtainable from the Community Contact Centre or can be downloaded from this site from our adopted guidance webpage.

Management Plans

Marine Court Conservation Management Plan 2006-2011 - this document was published as a five year plan, however the content remains relevant beyond 2011.

Our Planning Links area has links to other useful sites.