Allotments 4 All

Hi all,
I live in a small village & there is a proposed Conservation area within the village boundary which has been appraised by the local District Council.
I have written to express my own personal views as part of the area is the village allotment grounds. Our allotments have very little formal 'organisation' & this works very well. The land is owned by the Parochial Church Council & the rents are extremely low. In my comments to the D.C. I stated, that for some time, a small group of people have worked tirelessly to improve the ground so that more plots could be made available to interested parties. I feel the allotments for us are a community issue & not a conservation issue.
There are a number of other points which I won't go into now but my question to you is, have any members here been involved in introduced Conservation plans and have you any points worth bearing in mind.
Many thanks.

They tried around here, I found a pickaxe handle convinced the canvassers on the parish council not to include my place. No ponds to be dug. No removal of hedges, even if you were going to replace with native plants, no excavating in the garden boundary banks. Any new extensions to the houses were really scrutinised even the  percentage  you were allowed by law. It is just somebody without a reason to be on the council justifing their existance. Kick them out next election.

I live in a Conservation area & it's a total bloody pain, but a great cash-cow for the council....a coachload (yes! a coachload, honest, of Council peeps coming to look at 'the site' of the proposed garage, to replace an existing falling-down one, attached to friends' house - plus, of course, the architects fees + submitting for approval a selection of 'in character' tiles for the roof plus, plus, plus...so it went on.

Even re-surfacing a drive or altering a front garden becomes an expensive nightmare in getting planning permission with no guarantee it will be granted...

Paradoxically, several roads of houses had front porches put on (all the same) sometime in the 70s I reckon...because the Conservation order was slapped on the area after then - they can't be touched, except to repair them to their original cheapo look.

So that might lead me to the next..

Just a thought...what might, but really don't know here..might work in your favour re: the allotment plots is that, once they were included there might be a ban on changing them to anything else?...there again, money talks, and we're talking about your Council here, so when money comes into the equation, suddenly 'rules' fly out of the window?

I reach the same conclusion as ACE here, Telboy.

Me too. My neighbour has the original windows. Wanted to build a conservatory and was told it had to be wood. This despite the fact that all the other conservatories in the street are uPVC (added before the conservation order). All my windows are uPVC (previous owner was a councillor) but when I wanted to replace some with uPVC windows which actually looked like the original windows I had to get planning permission (£600).

I'm finding this VERY interesting - PLEASE keep it up!
Many thanks.

I'm really in favour of preserving old buildings but...!! :-X

Quote from: grawrc on February 18, 2010, 21:39:52
I'm really in favour of preserving old buildings but...!! :-X

but it's the 'buts' that count, isn't it?

Windows...I'm going to try to not start a mini-rant about windows in a Conservation area, but feel I might not succeed...

UPVC windows before C, or, gracious me!..double glazing even, put in before C? Now that's OK. To change the existing single-glazed wooden framed windows AFTER C....bloody no-no....and, living in a 100yr old property, I can honestly say that all the features which made this house a forward-looking design in its time, have deteriorated, because of the C.order,  to something that doesn't come up to acceptable C20 standards, let alone C21st. Eco-home it's not. >:(

I don't know how, or if, these things link, but..along with the C. order came a Preservation order of trees. Again, it's an expensive business to have to get the Council tree bods to certify a tree (diseased, dying and/or dangerous) to be felled & the space to be planted with one of their 'approved' list - generally tho, if you or your neighbour in your suburban gardens have a tree which is already large enough to look good in a parkland setting (and many people plant trees with no idea or care about the eventual growth) cut it back as much as you can NOW - cos you'll never be able to do it in the future, once that Order is in place.

Whew! I think I've been very restrained 8) ;D

I think they are a mixed bag - as in how different council's approach them. Some areas they seem to be very strict, others not.
In Islington or camden (can't remember exactly) they introduced a conservation order and made everyone change their plastic windows to original timber frames. While in other areas a lot of people just seem to ignore the fact and carry out repairs and work regardless. And the council doesn't bother to chase them up about it.
What I have learnt is that some council's litterally don't have a budget for doing enforcement work, while others appear to do so. Remember it costs them time and money to do things (and therefore us as tax payers...)
So I'd question why they are wanting to introduce a conservation area and what will be achieved by it. Is it really that special? And I'd ask them what their budgets for running it are.
And this is written by someone who lives in a conservation area and in a listed building - so basically I could write an epic on the subject!!
But having said all this I don't know who it would affect your allotments

1066

My Council is Birmingham City Council and there are going to be all sorts of budget/services cuts and job losses, most particularly in services for the elderly - the soft option, then....but I bet that little lot won't be affected :o

A few years ago I acted on behalf of someone, disabled + 2 children, husband long-gone, who had had part of her frontage lawn dug up to allow her car to be parked there, to make it easier for her to unload children/shopping etc. - the only house in that little street which didn't have a drive to take a car. Someone reported this to the Council - and she had to go to the expense (and she was on benefits) to have the garden re-turfed while they considered if she could have a drive...

ggrrrrrr - that is a prime example of a conservation area not working!!! Ridiculous!

When I lived in Moseley the conservation area stopped an elderly persons home from having a new ramp....they did not get their planning permission.Not sure what the final outcome was.So stupid.

Moving to another conservation area soon  ???

it's much easier to not live in a conservation area!!  lol

 ;D

Quote from: 1066 on February 18, 2010, 22:20:54
I think they are a mixed bag - as in how different council's approach them. Some areas they seem to be very strict, others not.
While in other areas a lot of people just seem to ignore the fact and carry out repairs and work regardless.

1066

Crunch time comes if you want to sell your house and you don't have the permissions for the various alterations. You then have to get them pretty quick! Or, nightmare scenario, put everything back the way it was. At the whim of the council officials.

Back to the OP and the lotties question...a thought that occurred to me, Telboy, is that IF the Conservation order goes ahead, I'd advise putting all your energies then to make sure that the lotties site is included in it. I was reminded this morning of a little road round here - houses on one side only, open green space on t'other? It's a prime area for 'redevelopment' ie building £500,000 properties on, and several of the same, and since C., although it's been sniffed around (and not just by the resident dogs ;)) -  Bournville Village Trust own the land - it's had to remain a really nice green space, and that is ONLY because of the C. restrictions. So, who knows, if you lose the C.Order battle in general at least you could get something positive out of it?