The Hackney Society

Conservation

This section is still under development, but is hopefully a useful introduction to the issues around conservation in Hackney.

The Conservation Area Advisory Committees are carrying out area appraisals during 2001. The Clapton Committee have completed a draft appraisal which can be viewed by clicking the link below.

Clapton CAAC Appraisal

Conservation Areas in Hackney

Conservation Areas are places of special architectural or historic interest. They are designated by local authorities, which have an obligation to preserve or enhance their character or appearance through the planning process.

Inside a Conservation Area special permission - called Conservation Area Consent - is needed to demolish any building and will not normally be granted if the building contributes to the character and appearance of the Area. In considering whether or not to grant planning permission local authorities are required to take into account whether a proposal 'preserves or enhances the character or appearance' of the Area - those are the words used in the relevant planning act.

Conservation Area controls work to prevent insensitive additions to buildings - particularly if the new work is visible from a public highway. The controls also restrict certain forms of permitted development. Essentially any operation requiring planning permission - change of use or new development - can be affected by this duty to preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Area.

Conservation Area Advisory Committees

There are twenty Conservation Areas in Hackney, and the local authority has recently established five different 'Advisory Committees' to comment on planning applications that affect the character or appearance of these Areas, which cover some of the finest stretches of townscape in the Borough. The Advisory Committee meets once a month. It has links with other local organisations and is also concerned with open spaces, trees, litter, and advertisements.

If you know of any proposed or recent development that has done harm to the quality of one of these Areas, or to sites on the edge of these Areas, then get in touch with the Committee's Chair or Secretary. If you feel strongly about improving the quality of our physical environment in Hackney - and it certainly needs improvement! - then join. You will learn all you need to know as you go.

The Clapton Conservation Area Advisory Committee looks after three near here: Clapton Square, which includes the Narroway and parts of Lower Clapton Road; Clapton Pond; and Clapton Common. Chair: Chris Miele, 33 Newick Road, London E5 0RP, 020 8986 5439. Secretary: Tony Gillett, 118 Geldeston Road, London E5 8RS, 020 8806 5790.

For the other advisory committees the current contacts are:

Stoke Newington: c/o The Hackney Society

Shoreditch: Patrick Hammill email: hammill@geo2.poptel.org.uk

Kingsland: John Turner email: john.e.turner@blueyonder.co.uk
tel: 020 7684 8851

Central and South Hackney: Louis A. Roche, Apt. A Coopers Yard, 5-7 Sylvester Road, London, E8 1EP