There are conservation areas in Dartmouth and in each of the villages of Kingswear, Stoke Fleming, Blackawton, Strete and Dittisham, and the Society is interested in them all.
South Hams District Council (SHDC) publishes Conservation Area Management Plans for the areas and our Committee, in its monthly monitoring of all planning applications, uses these management plans, amongst other factors, to assess the applications and ensure that the distinctive characteristics of the conservation areas are conserved and, where possible, enhanced.
SHDC is obliged to appraise its Conservation Areas from time to time to assess their condition and to review their extent. The Society assists in the appraisal process and makes detailed submissions to the SHDC Conservation Officer.
The most recent reviews of the Dartmouth and Kingswear Conservation Areas took place in 2010-2011. The Society recommended that several additional areas of Dartmouth should be added to the existing Conservation Area and most of these areas were included in the revised area that came into force in 2013. Our letter in response to public consultation on the draft revision documents can be accessed on our Key Submissions Page.
Appraisals of Stoke Fleming and Strete were completed in 2009 but appraisals of Dittisham and Blackawton which were ongoing some years ago are apparently still incomplete. The final appraisal documents can be accessed through the following links: Dartmouth; Kingswear; Stoke Fleming; Strete.
An overview of South Hams District Council’s Conservation Area policy can be seen
here.
Although a Management Plan for the Dartmouth and Kingswear Areas was in draft some years ago it is missing from that page. However, Management Plans for
Stoke Fleming and
Strete do appear there.