Listed buildings and conservation areas

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Listed buildings
Certain buildings of special architectural or historic interest are legally protected. 'Listed' buildings are buildings which are on a list compiled or approved by the Scottish Government. Listed buildings are assigned to one of three categories by Historic Scotland:

• Category A - Buildings of national or international importance, either architectural or historic, or fine little-altered examples of some particular period, style or building type;
• Category B - Buildings of regional or more than local importance, or major examples of some period, style or building type which may have been altered; and,
• Category C - Buildings of local importance, lesser examples of any period, style or building type, as originally constructed or altered, and simple, traditional buildings, which group well with Categories A and B or are part of a planned group such as an estate or an industrial complex.

Register of Listed Buildings in Renfrewshire 2011

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Scheduled monuments
There are many scheduled monuments in Renfrewshire. These include such things as prehistoric earthworks, old ruined buildings and industrial archaeology. 30 of them are considered to be of national importance, and have therefore been given legal protection. These have been scheduled by the Scottish Ministers under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. You need Ancient Monument Consent for any works which affect a scheduled ancient monument. Advice and application forms are available from Historic Scotland. You can view the locations of the scheduled ancient monuments on an Interactive Map.

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Conservation areas
Renfrewshire's eight conservation areas are:

• Castlehead, Paisley
• Greenlaw, Paisley
• Houston
• Kilbarchan
• Lochwinnoch
• Ranfurly, Bridge of Weir
• Paisley Town Centre
• Thornly Park, Paisley

Permitted development rights
The council has a legal duty to preserve and enhance the character of each of these conservation areas and they are therefore covered by additional planning controls. All of the conservation areas, except Greenlaw are covered by legal restrictions which remove certain permitted development rights. Find out more about permitted development rights on the page 'Do you need planning permission?'.

Demolition works in conservation areas
You need 'conservation consent' before you can carry out demolition works in a conservation area.

Treeworks
You have to give the council six weeks notice in writing if you want to do work to a tree in a conservation area . It is an offence to carry out the work without the council's consent. More information on the protection of trees is available on our webpage, 'trees: information and advice'.

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes
The 'Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes' are defined as 'grounds which are laid out for artistic effect'. There are two gardens and designed landscapes in Renfrewshire included in the inventory: the grounds of the former Formakin Estate and the portion of Finlaystone Estate situated in Renfrewshire. You can view the locations of the garden and designed landscapes on an Interactive Map. More information on gardens and designed landscapes is also available from the Historic Scotland website.

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Find out more
Information on listed buildings and conservation areas is available on the Scottish Government and Historic Scotland websites:

• Scottish Planning Policy.
• Planning Advice Note 71 Conservation Area Management .
• The Scottish Historic Environment Policy (Shep) sets out policies for the historic environment and provides policy direction from Historic Scotland.
• Historic Environment guidance note series.

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