These notes are to help you when making an application for Listed Building Consent or Planning Permission for relevant demolition in a Conservation Area and to ensure that your application contains sufficient information to deal with it efficiently.
Listed Buildings
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport lists buildings for their ‘special architectural or historic interest’ on advice of Historic England. There are three grades of listing, grade I, II* and II. There are over 1000 Listed Buildings in Bassetlaw District. The listing applies to the whole building, including the exterior and interior, together with any building, object or structure, including boundary walls/gates/railings, within the curtilage of the Listed Building, provided they are attached to the Listed Building or are detached and were built earlier than 1st July 1948.
Listed Building Consent is required for:
- The alteration (including interior alterations) or extension of a Listed Building;
- The demolition of a Listed Building (including partial demolition).
Please note: It is a criminal offence to alter or demolish a Listed Building without obtaining the necessary Listed Building Consent. The penalty can be a fine, imprisonment or both.
The character of Listed Buildings depends as much on the small details and interior features as it does on the external appearance. Therefore, it is necessary that applicants provide full and detailed information to ensure that the Council receives enough details to understand the building and the effect your proposals may have on its special interest.
Plans required for a Listed Building Consent Application
Application form
Please complete as fully as possible all relevant sections of the form (including the certificate of ownership). The description of the proposed works should be accurate, brief and include all the proposed works, both external and internal. The form must be signed and dated.
Location Plan
This should be up-to-date at a scale of 1:1250.
Block Plan
This shows the relationship of the building to streets and adjacent properties at the scale of 1:500.
Existing Drawings
True representations of the existing building. Floor plans, elevations and sections (where appropriate) at a scale of 1:50 where changes or alterations are proposed.
Proposed Drawings
Floor plans, elevations and sections (where necessary) at a scale not less than 1:50 where changes or alterations are proposed. These drawings must clearly show the proposed works and all materials and finishes, this will usually require annotating the drawings. Remember to include the location of all waste pipes, vents, flues, alarm boxes, floodlights, etc, if proposed.
Drawings for an extension to a Listed Building
Where an extension is proposed, a Layout Plan at a scale of 1:500 should be provided to show the position of the extension in relation to existing building and the site boundaries. An Elevation Plan at a scale of no less than 1:500 should be provided showing the extension in relation to the existing building.
Details
Details of construction, such as new doors, windows, staircases or shop fronts will require detailed drawings at a minimum scale of 1:20. In some cases, full scale drawings at 1:1 will be appropriate, especially where new mouldings or joinery details are proposed e.g. window glazing bars. If these are to match existing mouldings or joinery details, it is sufficient to show this clearly on a 1:50 drawing in most circumstances. Annotated photographs are also of use, particularly in relation to comprehensive window changes or large areas of repointing.
Supporting Documents
Photographs
Photographs in colour showing the whole building and areas affected by the proposals should be submitted. It is useful if the photographs are cross-referenced to the drawings. Where internal works are proposed, internal photographs are particularly useful. Colour prints from a personal computer are acceptable if a digital camera is used.
Heritage Impact Assessment
For all applications, a Heritage Impact Assessment should be provided. Where proposals are for significant refurbishment, alterations and extension, an analysis and understanding of the history and character of the building is required. The analysis should describe the significance of the building and its special interest, what the proposed changes are and what effect they will have on the significance of the building (and/or its setting). Always include any documentary evidence you have about the house; historic photographs or maps can often be useful. The analysis can be written by anyone competent to do so. This may be the owner of the building, although often it will be an architect, surveyor or other professional with experience in conservation. Remember, this analysis is an opportunity to prove that your proposals do not adversely affect the significance of the Listed Building (and/or its setting).
Where partial, substantial or full demolition is proposed, the Heritage Impact Assessment should seek to address the requirements of paragraphs 213, 214 and 215 of the National Planning Policy Framework (December 2025).
Further guidance on how to carry out Heritage Impact Assessments can be found in the Council’s publication: “A Guide to Heritage Impact Assessments”, available on the ‘Conservation and Heritage’ section of our website.
Structural Report
In the first instance, Listed Buildings should always be retained and repaired. In the rare instances where demolition or large-scale alteration is proposed for structural reasons, a structural survey will be required. This should be carried out by a suitably qualified professional. It should clearly identify the structural problems and explain the need for demolition. If partial demolition is proposed, the report should assess the impact on the remaining structure.
Planning Permission for 'Relevant Demolition in a Conservation Area'
Planning Permission (for ‘relevant demolition in a Conservation Area’) is required for the total or substantial demolition of the following:
- any building with a total cubic content exceeding 115 cubic metres (measured externally); or
- any gate, wall, fence or other means of enclosure over 1 metre high where abutting a highway (including a public footpath or bridleway), waterway or open space, or over 2 metres high elsewhere.
There are exceptions where you will not need to apply for Planning Permission and we can advise you about these. However, you should check with the planning department first before considering whether to demolish a building in a Conservation Area.
Please note that in some instances, Planning Permission for demolition will not be given, unless the character and appearance of the Conservation Area is preserved, and there are acceptable and detailed plans for the redevelopment or re-use of the site.
Where the application is purely for the demolition of a building in a Conservation Area, there will be no fee required. However, where redevelopment is also proposed, the appropriate planning fee for the proposed development will be required.
Plans required for an application for Planning Permission for 'relevant demolition in a Conservation Area'
Application Form
Please complete as fully as possible all relevant sections of the form (including the certificate of ownership). The description of the proposed demolition should be accurate, brief and include all the proposed elements of demolition. The form must be signed and dated.
Location Plan
This should be up-to-date at a scale of 1:1250.
Block Plan
This shows the relationship of the building to streets and adjacent properties at the scale of 1:500.
Detailed Drawings
Accurate measured drawings to a scale of 1:50 or 1:100 of all external elevations. The part(s) of the building to be demolished should be clearly identified. Where partial demolition is intended, details of the proposed treatment of the walls exposed by the demolition should be provided.
Supporting Documents
Heritage Impact Assessment
For all applications for demolition of an unlisted building in a Conservation Area, a Heritage Impact Assessment should be provided. The analysis should describe the significance of the building/structure and its special interest, what the proposed demolition works are and what impact the proposed demolition would have on the significance of the Conservation Area (and/or its setting). Always include any documentary evidence you have about the building; historic photographs or maps can often be useful. The analysis can be written by anyone competent to do so. This may be the owner of the building, although often it will be an architect, surveyor or other professional with experience in conservation.
The Heritage Impact Assessment should seek to address the requirements of paragraphs 213, 214 and 215 of the National Planning Policy Framework (December 2025).
Further guidance on how to carry out Heritage Impact Assessments can be found in the Council’s publication: “A Guide to Heritage Impact Assessments”, available on the ‘Conservation and Heritage’ section of our website.
Structural Report
In the first instance, buildings in Conservation Areas which are regarded as having a positive impact on the character and appearance of the Conservation Area should always be retained and repaired. In the rare instances where demolition is proposed for structural reasons, a structural survey will be required. This should be carried out by a suitably qualified professional. It should clearly identify the structural problems and explain the need for demolition. If partial demolition is proposed, the report should assess the impact on the remaining structure.
Photographs
Photographs in colour showing clearly the building or part of building to be demolished and close ups of any noteworthy architectural features.
Planning Permission for Development and 'Relevant Demolition in a Conservation Area'
Where an application seeks Planning Permission for demolition in a Conservation Area and also for the redevelopment of the site, further information (such as scale drawings, ecology surveys, landscape surveys, etc) is required with regard to the proposed development. These requirements are provided in the Council’s up-to-date validation requirements found on the website.
Granting of Consent
Where Listed Building Consent or Planning Permission for ‘relevant demolition in a Conservation Area’ is granted, there will often be conditions attached to that Consent/Permission decision notice. You will need to read them carefully and must comply with them. Please note that it is an offence in law not to comply with the conditions of a Listed Building Consent.
Submission
There is no fee for submitting an application for Listed Building Consent or an application for Planning Permission for ‘relevant demolition in a Conservation Area’. Applications should be submitted to:
Development Team, Planning Services
Bassetlaw District Council
Queen’s Buildings
Potter Street
Worksop
Nottinghamshire
S80 2AH
Checklist
Have you included all of the following?
- Completed application forms (which includes an appropriate Certificate of Ownership), signed and dated;
- A location plan at 1:2500;
- A block plan at 1:500;
- Existing drawings to appropriate scales (for Listed Building Consent or Planning Permission/Planning Permission for relevant demolition in a Conservation Area applications);
- Proposed drawings to appropriate scales (for Listed Building Consent or Planning Permission applications);
- A Heritage Impact Assessment; and
- Any other necessary supporting documentation.
Contact us
For further advice on issues relating to Conservation Areas, please contact the Council’s Conservation Team:
Telephone: 01909 533 427
Email: conservation@bassetlaw.gov.uk
Alternatively, please write to: Conservation Team, Planning Services, Bassetlaw District Council, Queen's Buildings, Potter Street, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, S80 2AH.
For help and advice on submitting planning applications, please contact Planning services:
Telephone: 01909 533 533.
Email: planning@bassetlaw.gov.uk
Disclaimer: This guide is in relation to Listed Building / ’relevant demolition in a Conservation Area’ applications only. For further advice, please visit the Planning section of our website.
Last Updated on Tuesday, December 2, 2025