Conservation area residents face curbs on home changes

HOUSEHOLDERS living on Hull’s leafy Avenues will have to apply for planning permission if they want to alter doors and roofs from this December.

The controversial new rules are being bought in to preserve the “most extensive area of Victorian middle-class housing in Hull”.

The so-called article 4 directions apply if people want to replace front doors with “non-distinctive doors in uPVC or other inappropriate materials” or remove, replace or enclose original front porches. They also affect changes to roofs, bargeboards, eaves gutters and chimney stacks. The changes are due to be discussed at meetings this month, before their introduction on December 1.

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Stephanie Wilson, chairman of the Avenues and Pearson Park Residents’ Association, which put forward the proposals, said there had been some “unpleasantness”.

She said: “It’s a pretty vocal minority that’s against it, but I think the community is behind it. They must have voted for it otherwise it wouldn’t have gone through.”

Mrs Wilson said a similar direction affecting windows hadn’t stopped replacement with uPVC, but had led to better designed windows – “sash windows that look like sash.” She said: “I think people are quite anxious about the interpretation of the directions on the roofs and the potential cost of modern slate. I hope the increased value of our homes and the look of our area will pay off.”

Of the 112 households which responded to consultation, 97 supported all the changes and 12 were against them all.

People will not have to pay a fee to apply to Hull Council for planning permission.

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