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Conservation area breaches
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loca


Posts: 67
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #1
16-05-2008 12:25 PM

I have reported to the planning office some breaches on the conservation area, for example:

The new Pizza place next to Sainsbury - the signage is breaking the conservation rules
-satellite dishes on flats above the shops in-front of the station.

Please email this lady and ask them to take action:

Brenda.White@lewisham.gov.uk
and this lady
Justine.Page@lewisham.gov.uk
or call on 020 8314 7400

Thank you

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Baboonery


Posts: 581
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #2
16-05-2008 02:44 PM

Dear Brenda,
Please do not waste public time and money pursuing those seeking to enjoy their rights as citizens by benefiting from largely unobtrusive satellite dishes (the objection to which appears founded on little more than snobbery) in what has been dubiously termed a conservation area.
Yours,
Mr B. Oonery, London SE23.

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shzl400


Posts: 729
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #3
17-05-2008 08:50 AM

On the contrary, Brenda, pursue them for all you are worth - otherwise there is no point at all in having a conservation area.

P.S. Satellite dishes are the scourge of the devil and should be stamped out wherever possible - and that includes on council flats - they are in breach of the tenancy conditions, I believe.

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Elizabeth25


Posts: 212
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #4
17-05-2008 09:40 AM

You can take my satellite dish from my cold dead hands. Laugh

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #5
17-05-2008 10:20 AM

In blocks of flats, the solution to wanting Sky but not wanting loads of dishes is simple: you can get a communal dish installed for free. There's no need for a wall-load of dishes on any building.

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #6
17-05-2008 11:22 AM

The council is in the process of reviewing the character of the conservation area in Forest Hill. This will better define what parts of the conservation area are worthy of conserving and issues which should be addressed and improved. And for the cynical amongst you, this is a positive process for Forest Hill, there are no plans to reduce the size of the conservation.

This does not mean that every bright sign will immediately be smashed or satellite dishes ripped from the walls but it may help the council, local businesses and residents to work together to improve the appearence of the town centre over a period of time.

There will be a public consultation in the autumn but it is worth collating ideas here that you feel are positive and negative aspects of the town centre and where it might be extended. At present it is the area surrounded by the red line in maps:
http://www2.lewisham.gov.uk/lbl/planning...fr056.html
and the top of map
http://www2.lewisham.gov.uk/lbl/planning...fr065.html
(there are two other conservation areas on the second map around Sydenham Park and Lammas Green - these are not under review this year).

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Sherwood


Posts: 1,412
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #7
17-05-2008 11:48 AM

Does mayor Boris' zero tolerance approach include satellite dishes?

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loca


Posts: 67
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #8
17-05-2008 03:05 PM

At least if people are aware we live in a conservation area and know what is and isn't allowed, they will stop breaking the law inadvertently. Once a breach has taken place, it's very hard to change it.
We need more publicity of the fact - maybe the council as part of the review should write to everyone in the area informing them.

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Kaz


Posts: 4
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #9
17-05-2008 11:41 PM

Back in 93 when cable/sky was first introduced, we had a free connection placed onto the block of our flats so we could connect for free. That was pre-Videotron/Cable & Wireless/NTL. It cost nothing and we had no Sky dishes around.
Over the past 10 years dishes have sprouted up all over the same block of flats and others, and Lewisham council did nothing even though it was against tenancy contracts. Look around there are dishes all over properties nowadays - If Lewisham Council cared about the borough, they'd do something about it not only in conservation areas.
I'd like cable over Sky, but its not available in my part of SE23, so i either get an ugly dish, or do without (as i currently am).

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #10
18-05-2008 01:54 AM

But i guess that unless we're talking about council flats, or if flats are in conservation areas, it's really not something that can be enforced anyway (unless individual freeholders have a policy). There are other options anyway (other than Sky or Virgin) and that's TV through broadband such as Tiscali TV or BT Vision. Even with a Sky dish, as I said, there's no need for more than one dish per building.

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loca


Posts: 67
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #11
18-05-2008 11:08 AM

The policy is- as long as the dish is not at the front of the property you're fine. So put them on the roof or at the back.

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Applespider


Posts: 285
Joined: Feb 2006
Post: #12
19-05-2008 09:32 AM

I thought you couldn't have them on the roof if they disrupted the skyline? Having them on the back doesn't work if your line of sight to the satellite is at the front of the building.

And while in theory, yes, one dish can work for a block of flats, there are some funnies with that. You can't have Sky+ or Sky HD if you have a communal dish for example.

I do think that people should put them up as unobtrusively as possible and try to share dishes wherever possible. But one problem is that many of the Sky installers are sub-contractors who don't get paid to do a tidy job - just to put up as many dishes as possible. I've seen several who won't take down an old dish but just put up a new one next to it!

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #13
19-05-2008 10:40 AM

You can get sky+ and HD with a communal dish now, Apple.

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Baboonery


Posts: 581
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #14
19-05-2008 12:32 PM

Cable/broadband TV isn't always practical, though. For example (and I appreciate this applies to a very small number of cases, but I presume there are cognates), my job means I need access to 24-hour TV news from a variety of international sources. Most cable or broadband operators don't carry anything like the breadth of international coverage that we need. Ofcom's 'must carry' stipulation on Sky means that Sky has this range, and for that reason, everyone doing my job has to have Sky.

Only when 'must carry' is extended to cable operators, who will probably never have the bandwidth for it, will there be a truly level playing field.

I agree that more use should be made of communal dishes, but in my experience, the opinion of one or more residents ('ooh, I don't want one of those grubby things, and I don't watch much television anyway, aren't I great?') makes that impossible. I should not be penalised for my neighbour's snobbery.

Meantime, the complaints about the dishes on the 'Hob row' remain ludicrous, in my view.

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #15
19-05-2008 01:10 PM

I think you're unusual in your requirements, though, Baboonery.

I think one dish on a block of flats is reasonable. More is unneccessary and can be a bit of an eysore.

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Baboonery


Posts: 581
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #16
19-05-2008 02:49 PM

And admitted as much, though I'm sure there are others for whom the effects of 'must carry' are the clincher in the deal, whether 'needed for work purposes', or just because there are channels that they want to see and use their disposable income to fund. The disparity in channel ranges is too great for cable and satellite to be a strict either/or, and presenting it as such is a tad dishonest (not that you are, but plenty of people do, not least the cable companies).

And more may be unnecessary, but if one person objects, even when you say "but you do understand that if you object to this we'll have three dishes rather than one?", as happened in one building I lived in, then there's not a lot you can do.

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NewForester


Posts: 379
Joined: Feb 2008
Post: #17
19-05-2008 03:01 PM

loca wrote:
The policy is- as long as the dish is not at the front of the property you're fine. So put them on the roof or at the back.


Not quite true. You may need planning permission for your aerial

planningportal.gov.uk wrote:
Houses and buildings up to 15 metres high in designated areas
If your house (or the building in which you live) is in a designated area, you do not need to apply for planning permission to install an antenna on your property, as long as:
  • there will be no more than two antennas on the property overall;
  • if you are installing a single antenna, it is not be more than 100 centimetres in any linear dimension (not including any projecting feed element, reinforcing rim, mounting and brackets);
  • if you are installing two antennas, one is not more than 100 centimetres in any linear dimension, and the other is not more than 60 centimetres in any linear dimension (not including any projecting feed element, reinforcing rim, mounting and brackets);
  • the cubic capacity of each individual antenna is not more than 35 litres;
  • an antenna fitted onto a chimney stack is not more than 60 centimetres in any linear dimension;
  • an antenna mounted on the roof only sticks out above the roof when there is a chimney-stack. In this case, the antenna should not stick out more than 60 centimetres above the highest part of the roof, or above the highest part of the chimney stack, whichever is lower; and
  • an antenna is not installed on a chimney, wall, or a roof slope which faces onto, and is visible from, a road or a Broads waterway. (If you are not sure, get advice from the local planning authority.)


Buildings 15m or more in height in Designated Areas
If your building is in a designated area, you do not need to apply for planning permission to install an antenna on your property, as long as:
  • there will be no more than four antennas on the building overall;
  • the size of any antenna is not more than 130 centimetres in any linear dimension (not including any projecting feed element, reinforcing rim, mounting and brackets);
  • the cubic capacity of each individual antenna is not more than 35 litres;
  • an antenna fitted onto a chimney stack is not more than 60 centimetres in any linear dimension;
  • an antenna mounted on the roof does not stick out above the roof more than 300 centimetres above the highest part of the roof; and
  • an antenna is not installed on a chimney, wall, or a roof slope which faces onto, and is visible from, a road or a Broads waterway. (If you are not sure, get advice from the local planning authority.)

Any work which does not meet all these requirements will require planning permission

If you don't understand that gobblydegook, then try this interactive guide.

For those who are not sure where the conservation area applies, there is a general map here or look at the Unitary Development Plan - the conservation areas are outlined in red and Forest Hill station is located in the top right of this map. Click on a different square of the small map to see a different area.

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mljay


Posts: 80
Joined: Mar 2007
Post: #18
19-05-2008 05:46 PM

communal dishes are all very well aesthetically BUT they do come at greater cost. sky may install "free" but the installation agent tends to charge and extra monthly rental for the service as well as a connection charge. my brother lives in a flat with a communal dish and the rental charge was ?25 per month plus the sky package. pretty steep i think.

why should people who live in flats have to pay more?

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #19
19-05-2008 06:39 PM

Is that ?25 per flat?

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Gep


Posts: 60
Joined: Aug 2007
Post: #20
21-04-2009 11:02 AM

I agree, satellite dishes look awful. I found this picture on the internet and I thought it was just perfect to show what Forest Hill looks like around were I live:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...the_UK.jpg

I have mentioned it to the Council since in my leasehold agreement explicitly states they can't be installed and still most people in my estate have at least one. Moreover many of them are broken so they not only are ugly, but also useless.

Well I guess there are more important issues in the area.

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