Conservation Areas

A conservation area is an area of special architectural or historical interest, the character and appearance of which the London Legacy Development Corporation, as the Local Planning Authority, has a duty to preserve or enhance. The land, buildings and trees in these areas have special protection in the planning system.

There are five conservation areas that are entirely or partly within the Legacy Corporation administrative area. These are:

• Fish Island and White Post Lane Conservation Area
• Hackney Wick Conservation Area
• St. Johns Conservation Area
• Sugar House Lane Conservation Area
• Three Mills Conservation Area.

Information and links to the relevant information for each are provided below. Where the Legacy Corporation has not reviewed or updated the conservation area or its appraisal and management guidelines since taking the relevant powers in October 2012, these links are to the documents on the relevant borough website.

Within conservation areas, certain additional planning controls apply. You will need to apply for planning permission for demolition and for some alterations or extensions that would not normally need permission outside a conservation area. You must give us six weeks’ notice, in writing, before any work is carried out to prune or fell a tree in a conservation area.

For more information go to the Historic England website: HistoricEngland.co.uk.

Designation of an area as a conservation area does not stop development being promoted in the area. However, it introduces extra protections against inappropriate development. Where an application for planning permission is made for land within a designated conservation area, the local planning authority must pay special attention to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of that area when it determines that application.

In 2014 the Legacy Corporation undertook a review of the Fish Island Conservation Area as previously designated by London Borough of Tower Hamlets and the Hackney Wick Conservation Area, as previously designated by the London Borough of Hackney. This review resulted in the extension of the boundaries of each conservation area while updated conservation area appraisals and management guidelines were published for both. A summary report of the views expressed during the relevant consultation can be read here: Summary of the views expressed on the Conservation Area Management Guidelines.

A review of the Three Mills Conservation Area has also been undertaken. It had comprised of two areas, one designated by London Borough of Newham and the other by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. An updated conservation area appraisal and management guidelines and a consolidated boundary map have subsequently been published and are available using the links above. The relevant consultation report can be read using the following link: Consultation Report.