The conservation area in West Hagbourne extends from the extreme east of the village westwards as far as the Horse and Harrow and, as well as the built area, it includes a lot of open space. The open space includes Moor Lane and the land to the south, land between Manor Farm and Brook Furlong, the grounds of Broomsticks and some of the land at York Farm and Grove Manor Farm.

A conservation area is “an area of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance”. A large part of the village is included in West Hagbourne Conservation Area but, as much of the village clearly has no specific architectural or historic interest, it is not included.

South Oxfordshire District Council carried out a character appraisal of the conservation area in 2006 and produced a management plan, and these are available online. Since these were produced the conservation area has been extended to include Grove Manor Farm and the Horse and Harrow.
Click here to see the character appraisal, here to see the management plan and here to see SODC's Conservation Area map.

Planning restrictions in the conservation area
Planning control is stricter in conservation areas and permitted development rights are restricted, so SODC will be influenced in the way in which it deals with any planning application that may affect the conservation area. This means that applications for planning permission will be required for certain types of work that would not normally need consent. This could include for example:

• Demolition of all, and in some cases part, of any building or structure
• An extension that exceeds 50 cubic metres or 10% of the volume of the original house as it was first built or as it stood on the first of July 1948
• Cladding any part of the outside of a building with materials such as stone, artificial stone, timber, plastic or tile
• Any addition or alteration to the shape of a roof, such as the addition of a dormer window
• An extension or alteration to any structure within the grounds of a building, with a cubic content greater that 10 cubic metres, such as a garden shed
• Positioning a satellite dish on a wall, roof or chimney that faces a road or public space

Listed buildings
Within the conservation area there are a number of listed buildings, i.e. buildings or structures that individually have been specifically listed as being of special architectural or historic interest. Listed buildings are subject to even stricter planning control and work to them needs specific listed building consent from SODC. As well as the listed buildings, some other buildings are thought to make a positive contribution to the character of the conservation area and, although not listed, these are described in the conservation area character appraisal as "buildings of local note". The location of all the listed buildings and the buildings of local note are shown on the map of the conservation area.
Click here to see the Conservation Area map.

Trees in the conservation area
As well as buildings and open spaces, trees within conservation areas are also protected. Anyone wishing to work on trees with stem diameters of 75mm or greater, measured at 1.5m above ground must normally obtain consent from SODC and, if consent is given for a tree to be felled, the owner may be required by SODC to replace it with another.

Further information
SODC's website has a lot of useful information about conservation areas.
Click here to visit SODC's conservation areas website.