Directions authorised by Article 4 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 are used to remove certain permitted development rights. 

There are tighter controls over the level of permitted development within conservation areas than elsewhere, in many cases such control may still not be enough to safeguard the special character of an area, and prevent the incremental erosion of the areas’ special character and appearance, particularly where there are a significant number of unlisted buildings in residential use.

Several small changes such as replacing original roof tiles with sympathetic modern materials, substituting traditional windows with uPVC or aluminium replacements and removing front boundary walls or hedges to provide off-street parking can cumulatively detract from the 'special' character of an area .

There are currently Article 4 Directions served in three conservation areas namely:

• Article 4(2) Direction - Bute Town, Rhymney (replaced February 2015)
• Article 4(1) Direction - Pontywaun Garden Suburbs, Crosskeys ( October 1995 – brought forward in April 1996)
• ​Article 4(2) Direction - Rhymney Town (May 2004)