Ambleside Civic Trust

Ambleside Conservation Area

Conservation areas are legally defined as areas of ‘special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance’. The special character relates to the quality and interest of an area as a whole rather than just individual buildings.  The Lake District Planning Authority web site has more information about conservation areas generally

Parts of Ambleside were designated a Conservation Area in 1980 and the boundaries were revised in August 2010. You can view a map of the new boundary here.
There was extensive discussion before the new boundaries were agreed and the Planning Authority produced a discussion document in June 2010, which contains a great deal of interesting material about Ambleside. You can download a copy here (3.7Mb PDF).

In 2017 the committee developed a set of principles that it will use when addressing development issues, including within the Conservation Area, as follows.
Ambleside’s special status as a historic market town at the heart of the Lake District National Park deserves particular recognition as having an outstanding international value in keeping with its unique setting, character and heritage.

Ambleside Civic Trust considers that, where development or change is proposed in Ambleside and its surrounding area, the town and its community deserve the highest quality, environmentally sensitive, sustainable improvements of a scale and character appropriate to Ambleside and the Lake District National Park.

Ambleside has a singularly attractive and important cultural and natural heritage, so the Trust advocates that any major proposed development should always acknowledge, incorporate and respect:

• The views of Ambleside’s community
• Historically and environmentally sensitive and significant locations in the town and its surrounding area
• National policies, principles and good practice in conservation
• Local businesses, skills and traditional craft in design, making and building
• Contexts specific to Ambleside, for example, of flooding and restricted access