Conservation Areas

Consultation on the Proposed Waterfoot Conservation Area – Additional Change to the Proposed Conservation Area Boundary

In response to comments made during the first public consultation in September/October 2025 the proposed Conservation Area Boundary for Waterfoot Conservation Area has been extended. The proposed boundary now contains additional properties including Gaghills Mills, Gaghills House, Gaghills Cottage, a bakery, Nos 49-77 (inclusive) Burnley Road East and the bowling green. In addition, there have been other minor amendments to the proposed boundary to ensure consistency around pavements and property frontages.

The Council has decided to undertake a second public consultation focussed on those affected by the proposed change to the Conservation Area Boundary. Stakeholders who live in or have an interest in property located within the additional Gaghills area identified within the solid red line on the map here, are invited to submit their views on the boundary and, if they have not already done so, on the proposed Conservation Area generally.

Stakeholders who responded to the previous consultation in September/October 2025 do not need to resubmit their previous responses.

Please see below a map showing the new boundary of the proposed conservation area, the appraisal and management plan which has been updated following the first consultation and a link to the online questionnaire:

The documents can be viewed at the Customer Services Hub at Futures Park, Bacup, OL13 0BB (during normal opening hours).

If you have any comments, please fill in the short survey form, email forwardplanning@rossendalebc.gov.uk or write to Forward Planning at the address above. The consultation closes at 12 noon on Monday 30 March 2026.

First Consultation on proposed new Conservation Area in Waterfoot

Consultation commenced 22 September and ended Monday 20 October 2025

Why is Waterfoot Town Centre proposed to be designated as a Conservation Area?

Following interest for a Waterfoot Conservation Area, expressed during the consultation on the Waterfoot Masterplan, an appraisal of Waterfoot’s special historic and architectural interest was undertaken in June 2024. This highlighted that Waterfoot has significant townscape quality including characterful buildings of the 19th and early 20th century. A Management Plan is included which proposes measures to re-establish this character in order to enhance the appearance of the area.

The benefits of designating Waterfoot as a conservation area include supporting the safeguarding of its historic environment and helping to achieve the Waterfoot Masterplan vision.

Please see below the boundary of the proposed conservation area, the appraisal that took place and a future management plan as well as some frequently asked questions, and the responses received.

We have reviewed the comments received and are undertaking a second public consultation from 23 February 2026 until 30 March 2026 to allow residents and stakeholders with an interest in property within the new boundary an opportunity to comment.

Any proposed further changes to the boundary or to the area appraisal and management plan document raised during the second consultation will be assessed to inform the decison on the designation of the conservation area.

Existing Conservation Areas

Rossendale currently has 10 Conservation Areas, designated under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and defined as "areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance."

The reasons for designation vary widely, but all Conservation Areas have in common historic and architectural features which make them worthy of additional protection. We recognise that this places extra responsibilities, and in some cases extra costs, on owners when proposing material changes to their properties. For this reason, we encourage owners to contact the Conservation team at the earliest opportunity when proposing works, to check whether permission will be necessary and for advice on the detail of their proposals, for instance on the design of features or specification of materials.

Conservation Area Consent

Where the demolition of a building or structure within a conservation area is proposed, owners must apply for Conservation Area Consent. The application forms and guidance can be downloaded from the Planning Portal.

Planning Permission

Within conservation areas, the sensitive re-use of existing buildings is encouraged. Proposals for new development should respect the prevailing character of the area and exhibit high standards of design. In addition, certain forms of development that would normally be classified as permitted development will require planning permission. These can include:

- Extensions / alterations to a house or its roof

- Cladding, rendering or similar treatments

- Buildings erected in the grounds / curtilage of dwellings

- Chimneys, flues, soil or vent pipes

- Satellite dishes or other antenna

- Certain extensions to industrial buildings or warehouses

- Certain electricity or telecommunication buildings or installations

If you have any doubt about whether permission will be required, you are strongly advised to contact our Development Management Team using the details below.

Any development or demolition proposals within a conservation area need to be fully justified and supporting heritage statement will be required. Details of what is expected within a heritage statement can be found in our Validation Checklist

Article 4 Directions

For information about Article 4 Directions within or outside of Conservation Areas please visit the Article 4 Directions webpage.

Trees

For information on trees in a Conservation Area, please refer to Tree Works.

Conservation Area Appraisals

We completed the appraisal of all 9 conservation areas during 2010/ 2011, as well as the proposed Haslingden Conservation Area (which has since been designated). The process involved the comprehensive assessment of the historic, architectural and spatial qualities of each area. We have adopted the appraisal documents, together with a management plan for each area. All the appraisals and maps can be viewed below:

New Conservation Area Proposals

A consultation on new Conservation Areas has been undertaken as part of the draft Local Plan and ended on Monday 9 October 2017. Four additional Conservation Areas were proposed in Haslingden, Helmshore, Crawshawbooth and Newchurch and an extension to Chatterton and Strongstry Conservation Area was also being considered. Please note that the Haslingden Conservation Area has since been designated.

More information about the proposals are available in the Proposed new Conservation areas and extension to existing Conservation area document. The comments received during the consultation can be seen here.

Open Data

Download the Conservation Area datasets here

This data is provided by Rossendale Borough Council under the Open Government Licence.