Policy GP/HA: Designated Heritage Assets

7.62.  Designated heritage assets are defined as Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas, Registered Parks and Gardens and Scheduled Monument. They are buildings, monuments, sites, places, areas and landscapes that are identified as having significance that merits consideration in planning decisions due to their heritage interest and, as a result, are afforded a high level of protection. In England, the National Heritage List serves as an official record of listed buildings and structures, which are listed in recognition of their special architectural or historic interest. The principal aim of the listing is to prevent alterations that are detrimental to the special character of the building or structure. Greater Cambridge hosts over 3,500 listed buildings and structures. Historic landscapes (including designed and other landscapes such as historic parks and gardens, churchyards, village greens and public parks) are particularly important in South Cambridgeshire where they add interest and variety to an intensively farmed countryside.

7.63.  Listed building consent will be required for many works affecting a listed building or structure, including demolition, any alteration or extension to a listed building (interior alterations as well as exterior alterations and works to buildings or structures within the curtilage of the building that are curtilage listed), listed building consent is separate to planning permission. Control over changes to listed buildings is not meant to prevent all alterations, but to safeguard the buildings and structures from unnecessary demolition and inappropriate modifications that could harm their historical significance. All works to listed buildings must preserve or enhance their value and significance, in line with national policy requirements.

7.64.  A sensitive and hierarchical “whole-building” approach to design and specification is encouraged to ensure that the significance of the asset is not compromised by inappropriate interventions. Hidden historical features can also be uncovered through permitted works to designated heritage assets, which may be of historical significance and will need to be appropriately recorded. A Building Monitoring and Management Strategy may be required to monitor the ongoing impact of the implemented measures on the asset’s historic fabric and to record any hidden historical features discovered during development. Monitoring requirements will be proportionate to the significance of the asset and the scale and scope of the work undertaken. Where monitoring shows that interventions are causing harm to the significance of the asset, appropriate remediation works will be required.

7.65.  Consent will not be granted for the demolition of a listed building or structure other than in exceptional circumstances; clear and convincing justification will be required, as well as evidence that every effort to retain building has been made. Applications for the retrofitting of listed buildings are required to be supported by a Heritage Impact Assessment demonstrating an understanding of the building’s environmental performance, the building’s current fabric and energy performance, alongside the evaluation of the impact of the proposed works on both the environmental performance and the significance of the listed building. Where designated heritage assets are to be marketed to test whether they can be brought back into viable use in line with national planning policy tests, an up-to-date marketing exercise should be undertaken in accordance with the guidance provided in Historic England’s guidance on Managing Significance in Decision-Taking in the Historic Environment (or successor documents) and Appendix I: Skyline and tall buildings guidance.

7.66.  Historic landscapes including historic parks and gardens, churchyards, village greens and public parks are particularly important in South Cambridgeshire where they add interest and variety to the countryside. Registered parks and gardens within Greater Cambridge include the Botanic Garden and Clare College in Cambridge, and Pampisford Hall and Croxton Park in South Cambridgeshire.

7.67.  A Conservation Area is designated under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and are designated due to their special architectural or historic interest, the character of which is desirable to preserve or enhance. The special character of an area can be derived from architectural quality and built form, architectural styles, design of open or green spaces, designated and non-designated heritage assets alongside local distinctiveness. Development located adjacent to, or even at some distance from, a conservation area can still affect its setting and, in turn, its overall significance. Proposals for development outside a conservation area that may impact its character, or setting should take into account the relevant conservation area appraisal and demonstrate how any potential impacts can be appropriately mitigated.

7.68.  There are over 100 Conservation Areas within Greater Cambridge, with more in detail information for each area contained within the adopted Conservation Area Appraisals. Further information on the conservation areas within Greater Cambridge can be found on the the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Website.

7.69.  The majority of the Greater Cambridge’s built heritage is in good condition, being occupied and well maintained. However, in some cases, heritage assets can fall into disuse or disrepair, for a variety of reasons, such as lack of maintenance, redundancy, economic decline, unwillingness of owners or catastrophic events. In these circumstances, the buildings and structures are identified as being “at risk”. Heritage “at risk” can impact on local communities and the environment in which we live – not only are there the visual signs of neglect, but there can also be social, economic and public safety concerns too.

7.70.  Grade I and II* listed buildings or structures, Grade II listed places of worship, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens and Conservation Areas are monitored annually by Historic England. Where Historic England determines that a heritage asset is “at risk” using a series of nationally defined assessment parameters, these assets are recorded on the Heritage at Risk Register. As well as safeguarding important heritage assets, the adaptive re-use and regeneration of a building or structure can result in significant carbon savings in terms of embodied carbon savings. Therefore, any development proposal relating to heritage assets “at risk” must include proposals to secure the future of that heritage asset. The level of works needed to prevent a heritage asset from being “at risk” will vary on a case-by-case basis, and each case will need to be considered individually. However, there should be a legally binding mechanism in place in all cases to secure the restoration of the heritage asset.

7.71.  Bringing heritage assets back into an appropriate and viable use is often the most effective way of securing their future conservation, particularly where their original use is no longer viable. In some cases, temporary uses may be appropriate to ensure that buildings remain occupied and maintained while longer-term solutions are developed. In exceptional circumstances, permission may be granted for development which would not normally be acceptable in order to secure the long-term future of the designated asset. This is known as ‘enabling development’ and should only be carried out as a last resort in line with the guidance produced by Historic England. In such circumstances, the Councils will assess whether the benefits of a proposal, which would otherwise conflict with planning policies, but would secure the future conservation of a heritage asset, outweighs the disbenefits of departing from plan policies.

7.72.  Enabling development is a development proposal that seeks to secure the long-term future of a heritage asset, that is considered in its own right and would not typically be permitted. At the heart of enabling development is an ‘exchange’ whereby the community accepts some disbenefit through the acceptance of development that would be otherwise unacceptable in return for the long-term conservation of the heritage asset.

7.73.  Enabling development where the public benefit of securing the future of a significant heritage asset through enabling development decisively outweighs the disadvantages of breaching normal policy presumptions. In considering enabling development proposals, developers are encouraged to enter into pre-application discussions with the Local Planning Authorities.

7.74.  Enabling development is likely to be a last resort in the preservation of heritage assets. In specific circumstances, it may be necessary to accept some harm if there are no reasonable alternative means of delivering or designing enabling development with less or no harm. For enabling development to be supportable, development must not result in an unacceptable level of harm to the designated heritage asset it would be intended to conserve. Historic England’s guidance on Enabling Development and Heritage Assets (or successor documents) should be considered when preparing an application that involves enabling development.

7.75.  The Local Planning Authorities will not tolerate deliberate damage to or neglect of heritage assets. Where there is evidence that an applicant has deliberately harmed a heritage asset, remediation of this deliberate harm will not be granted weight in decision making in accordance with national planning policy, and the Local Planning Authorities will exercise the enforcement powers afforded by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

For further guidance on how to submit comments, please see the Representation Guidance Note.

All comments must be received by 25 September 2026 at 5pm.