Conservation areas

General information for householders on when planning permission is needed is available on the Planning Portal, or you can contact Planning Services directly at planning@knowsley.gov.uk. If you need formal confirmation as to the need for permission, you can apply for a Lawful Development Certificate.

You should check whether you need consent, before making arrangements to start any work. If your building is also a listed building, Listed Building Consent may be additionally required.

Certain works may be undertaken without the need for planning permission, and are known as 'permitted development'. Within conservation areas, the extent of ‘permitted development’ is reduced. This means that in conservation areas a greater range of work needs planning permission than is the case elsewhere.

You may, for example, require planning permission for front, side or rear extensions, garages, sheds, hardstandings, shopfronts, applying cladding or render, satellite dishes, micro-generation equipment, and erecting boundary fences or walls. This list is not exhaustive. In addition to the standard national requirements, the Council can change the types of development that need permission by making Article 4 Directions or can remove ‘permitted development’ rights through planning conditions.

Development affecting conservation areas or their settings will be expected to be of high-quality design which relates to its context. See Knowsley’s published Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) and the relevant conservation area appraisal and conservation area management plan (above) for further guidance.