East Cambridgeshire residents are being asked to identify which buildings, structures, archaeological sites and landscapes help make their local communities special.

East Cambridgeshire District Council is taking part in a new Local Heritage Listing project for Cambridgeshire, along with the county council, and four other district councils.

It’s an opportunity to help capture what makes East Cambridgeshire unique – whether it’s a war memorial, a telephone box or a beautiful country cottage.

Many such sites are valued by local people and contribute positively to the county’s character and identity, but fall outside the national listing process.

It means they often have little or no protection, and over time can be lost.

The aim of the project is to identify where they exist on a new website https://local-heritage-list.org.uk/cambridgeshire so what is significant about them can be recorded. 

By adding these heritage assets to Local Heritage Lists their local importance will be officially recognised in the planning process. If a planning application is made that affects one of the assets on the list, the local planning authority will have to take this into account when considering the application. While this does not provide the same degree of protection that is given to nationally listed buildings or structures, it should help to preserve the character and heritage of our local area.

Sites that already exist on the Buildings of Local Interest register in East Cambridgeshire include the old Lloyds Bank in Littleport, the Round House in Little Thetford and the Georgian cottages in Aldreth.

Cllr Lis Every, Heritage Champion at East Cambridgeshire District Council, said:

“We are extremely lucky to live in an area that is rich in history and has lots of impressive buildings, parks, gardens, landmarks and structures which are important to local communities.

“This is about capturing what makes East Cambridgeshire special and helping to keep it that way to help preserve what we love about our district now, and for the future.

“I would encourage anyone who thinks an asset is worth preserving to visit the website where they will be able to make a nomination, comment on an existing application or even volunteer their time to help with the process.”

The Cambridgeshire project is one of 22 funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (now the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) which invited councils in England to create pilot projects for Local Heritage Lists in their areas.

Nominations made on the website will be considered by an assessment panel of local project volunteers and heritage professionals to check they satisfy the criteria for selection.

Selected assets will then be taken forward by the individual district councils for adoption onto a Local List. Once adopted these lists will be published on the project website and each of the district council’s websites.

For more information and ways to get involved visit https://local-heritage-list.org.uk/cambridgeshire or email Project Officer jessica.johnston@cambridgeshire.gov.uk