Basically, you DO need planning permission in a conservation area for any dish that's visible from the road. This includes the roof and sides of the house, where they are also visible. The council's planning enforcement department does demand removal of dishes that are in breach of planning guidelines. Phone Envirocall on 8314 7171.

Lately, there have been aggressive pomotions offering dish installation - sometimes by cold-calling - for little or even no money. None of the installers seems to know or care about planning permission.

Here are two helpful flowcharts.

Here are two extracts from the government's "Installation of satellite television dishes: householder's planning guide":

If you are a tenant or a leaseholder (i.e. you do not own the house you live in), then the landlord's or owner's consent to install a dish is usually required, unless it has already been given, as well as any other necessary permissions.

3 Do you live in a flat in a small block of flats or commercial premises (below 15m in height) or plan to install a dish on a commercial property (e.g. shop, pub, club, etc)? Or do you live in a dwelling house in a conservation area, a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the Broads?
Then you do not need to apply for planning permission to install a dish, provided that:
• the dish does not exceed the limits on size, number and siting that are set out in paragraph 1 above, and the installation is not on a chimney stack, nor on the wall or roofslope fronting the road or public footpath (or, in the case of the Broads, fronting the waterway).