Changes to Keswick’s Conservation Area were agreed this week at a meeting of the Lake District National Park Authority.
It is the latest in a fresh push by concerned authorities to try and preserve the town’s “historic environment” from being lost, ignored or obscured.
It follows an earlier meeting which heard concerns that Keswick town centre is at risk of becoming another of Britain’s identikit high streets unless fresh action is taken to safeguard and enhance the history and heritage of its traditional buildings, particularly across the town centre.
Attendees at the meeting in Kendal on Wednesday agreed to support two recommendations made by the LDNPA. The first involved significantly expanding the boundary of Keswick’s Conservation Area – or the frontline of preserving the past.
The second involves the adoption of a new management plan for the area – nearly three years in the making because of delays caused by the pandemic.
The recommendations follow an extensive public consultation and an exhaustive review of the town’s historic assets, which could see some come in for restoration or eligible for shopfront grants.
Planning applicants wanting to make alterations face more scrutiny over what can or cannot go where; such as shop fronts, signage, the materials used and lighting.
In residential areas, greater focus will also be paid at the planning stage on those seeking to make additions, be it roofs, solar panels, chimneys, windows or to hard-standing areas.
In addition, a sweep of out-of-date general street clutter and unnecessary signage is another aim. Attention will also turn to how the town’s historic yards are used.
There have been concerns that some of the yards have become dumping grounds for either parked cars, old shop machinery, or bins.
Keswick has a number of listed buildings and a wide selection of what are described as “key buildings”.
Key buildings include Greta Hall; The Alhambra; Keswick Methodist Church; the Keswick Hotel; the parish rooms’ town council offices; the Hollies; the Parsonage, and the former Keswick School House. Listed buildings include Keswick station; the Moot Hall; the Royal Oak Hotel; the Dog and Gun; the King’s Arms Hotel, and The Oddfellows Arms, among others. Keswick’s Conservation Area is one of the largest of all the towns in the Lake District National Park.
The decision this week involved the deletion of three areas from the Conservation Area – the main town car park; the cluster of buildings at the southern end of Borrowdale Road; and the site of the former villa Greta Grove.
It also saw the incorporation of six new areas into the Conservation Area – Crow Park, Hope Park, Upper Fitz Park, the station and hotel, Manor Park, and a large swathe of Victorian terraces in the “Back Streets”.
Keswick Town Council described the new plan as “extremely comprehensive and well-researched”. It also supported the proposal to extend the Conservation Area, saying the new efforts would help “raise standards”.
