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.
Reviewing the Areas
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. 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.