Consultation on updated Swiss Cottage Conservation Area Appraisal about to kick off - with name change to South Hampstead proposed

The consultation on the updated Swiss Cottage Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy is set to be approved by the Council's Cabinet Member for Planning (the job I held until the electorate decided otherwise in May) on the 14th September. There will then be a six week consultation period with residents, including a public meeting, before the Council formally adopts the updated appraisal and management strategy.

Included in the report is a proposed name change to South Hampstead, which we believe will command support within the conservation area.

We have been pushing for this update for a couple of years. It matters because the more recent and accurate a conservation area appraisal is, the more planning weight it can be given. Swiss Cottage Conservation Area appraisal dates back to 1995, so it's not before time that it is updated. The timing also ties in with the great news that the Article Four Directions in the Conservation Area are going ahead, following strong support in the consultation earlier in the year. The update ensures all the latest information about the area is included, and officers have been undertaking a photographic record for council use to support the process.

At first glance, the draft document going out for consultation looks a very good piece of work. Camden Conservation officers have produced an excellent document with the very able assistance of a number of very dedicated volunteers in CRASH.

For anyone interested in local history and architecture, this is a fascinating document (and there's not often you can say that about a council report!). I didn't know that "Baron Corvo" lived in the area, nor that Sidney Boyd Court was built on the site of a flying bomb. You can find the document to read here

The document outlines the threats to the conservation area from insensitive changes and developments in some detail. With the Article Four Directions decision, English Heritage has now removed the conservation area from its register of conservation areas at risk. What is good to see in the report is the large number of buildings deemed "positive contributors" to the conservation area, particularly in the main "gardens" roads.

We'll be doing our bit as ward councillors to ensure everyone is aware of the consultation - generally with these updates (there is a rolling programme across the borough's 37 conservation areas) a good number of suggestions from informed residents are included in amendments post consultation before adoption.