Conservation and urban design
Lambeth's Conservation and Urban Design team is part of the Planning Division. It provides advice on proposals affecting heritage assets, proposals affecting protected trees on private property and on urban design matters.
The team's primary role is to assist the council make decisions on applications made through the planning process. However, it also provides pre-application advice and produces planning advice and design guidance.
A Conservation Area is an area of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance. There are 60 Conservation Areas in Lambeth, varying greatly in age, size, character and style. Better-known Conservation Areas include the South Bank and Clapham.
Parks and open spaces play a vital role in the lives of Lambeth residents, providing usable open space for sports and concerts and also more formal historic gardens. The borough has eight landscapes included on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens, a system designed to protect and enhance historically important landscapes, the amenity value that they offer, and their importance in respect of nature conservation.
Lambeth has more than 2,000 statutory listed buildings. They represent the best of the borough's buildings of historical or architectural interest, and range from post boxes and water troughs to the Royal Festival Hall and the Georgian terraces of Kennington. Buildings on the statutory list are deemed nationally important and are protected by law.
A locally listed building is a building or other structure which is deemed to be of local architectural or historic interest and is included on the Local List drawn up by the Council. It is a local designation and completely separate from national listing which is undertaken by the government.
Trees and hedges in private gardens, parks and streets need to be selected and planted with care, and managed appropriately to make the most of their potential to enhance their environment. Trees may be protected by Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) or other legal procedures to make sure that they are not lost or damaged needlessly.
Design advice is key to ensuring that good quality buildings and places are developed across Lambeth. We want new development to sustain and enhance the character of the borough and improve the built environment for everyone.
Heritage Assets
A heritage asset is a building, monument, site, place, area or landscape positively identified as having a degree of significance meriting consideration in planning decisions. Heritage assets are the valued components of the historic environment. They can be either Designated Heritage Assets or Undesignated Heritage Assets.
Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) provide detailed guidance to the policies in Lambeth's UDP and site specific guidance for the development of sites.