Conservation, design and environment

Rother District contains a blend of some of the most beautiful countryside in South East England.

The landscape character of the district varies from low-lying flat marshland to the east of the district, with expansive fields divided by occasional hedgerows, through the ancient mosaic landscape of the High Weald, with gently undulating pasture punctuated with species-rich hedgerows, copses and ancient woodland, to the more steeply contoured land around the sandstone ridge-top.

The District also has a rich architectural legacy, including as it does the historic market towns of Battle and Rye, the Victorian and Edwardian seaside town of Bexhill-on-Sea, a host of picturesque villages, listed buildings including many isolated farmsteads dispersed throughout the High Weald, together with modernist buildings from the 1930s and 1960s, and some strong examples of contemporary architecture.

Over 82% of Rother District lies within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, while there are 10 designated Conservation Areas and some 2,500 Listed Buildings in the District.

On these pages, you will find information and advice relating to Building Conservation, Design and the Environment.

• Conservation Areas

  Conservation Areas are defined as areas of special architectural or historic interest the character of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance.

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  Listed buildings

  A listed building, in the United Kingdom, is a building that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.

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  Traditional historic farm buildings

• Energy Efficiency and the Building Regulations in Historic Buildings

• Shop Front Design Guidance

  Following the completion of the highly successful Heritage Economic Regeneration scheme in Bexhill town centre, the Council has adopted shopfront and signage design guidance to ensure the continuation of the achievements of the scheme in improving the visual appearance and the vitality of the town centre.

• Guidance to Making Applications in Historic Settings

  The English Historic Towns Forum provides a guide that is particularly relevant to those involved in making planning applications within historic towns, conservation areas or sites close to Listed Buildings.

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  A Design Wayfinder

• The High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

  Over 82% of Rother District falls within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - a landscape of national importance which was designated as an AONB in 1983.

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  Ancient Woodland

  Rother has the highest Ancient Woodland cover (as a percentage of its area) of all districts in the South East region. Its extent has recently been re-surveyed.

• Article 4 Directions

  Restrictions on permitted developments.