Cumberland Council is set to launch a six-week consultation on a draft plan that aims to protect Carlisle’s cultural heritage.
The consultation on the Carlisle City Centre Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan will start on Wednesday 10 September and will end on Monday 27 October 2025.
As part of the engagement on the draft plan, the council has organised a public consultation event at the Old Town Hall, Carlisle on Wednesday 10 September, between 6pm and 7.30pm (doors open at 5.30pm).
The free event is open to all. Refreshments will be provided and there is no need to book.
Carlisle City Centre Conservation Area was designated in 1986, in recognition of being 'an area of special architectural or historic interest'.
Conservation Area designation is a way to protect the individual buildings, the open spaces and landscape features of these areas and is used by the council when it assesses planning applications.
New development is expected to fit with the character of the Conservation Area. The Conservation Area (one of 20 across the former Carlisle District) is large - 72ha - stretching from the Eden Bridges in the north to Citadel Station in the south. From the west it takes in the James Street Baths and to the east, St George’s United Reform Church on Warwick Road.
A Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan (CAAMP) is a tool by which the special qualities of a Conservation Area are assessed and set out, with a management plan put in place to help safeguard special character. The CAAMP is a document consisting of a strategic overview of the area and appraisal of its character, and a management strategy document. There is presently no CAAMP in place for the City Centre Conservation Area.
Cumberland Council is reviewing the existing Conservation Area and has produced a draft Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan (CAAMP). This has been prepared by consultants Cultura Trust (Formerly the North of England Civic Trust) and Donald Insall Associates.
Cumberland Cllr Bob Kelly, Executive Member for Policy and Regulatory Services, said:
“The draft Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan has been prepared with input from a variety of business and public organisations, and we’d now like to get feedback from the public on the emerging draft document. Please do come along as we welcome as many comments from the public as we can get.”
The draft CAAMP Documents are available on the council’s website
Feedback will be considered and used to help us to develop the CAAMP documents further. The updated CAMP documents will then be finalised and adopted.
The commission to produce the CAAMP was funded by a grant from Historic England and from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.