28 Lambridge Street, Lambridge, Bath

28 Lambridge Street is a light industrial building within a late 20th century residential region of the Bath conservation area and World Heritage site. It sits to the rear of 1-16 Lambridge Place, a Grade II Georgian terrace, is set well back from the historic streetscape of London Road, and is of a low, 1 ½ storey profile that is of neutral value to the conservation area.

BPT previously commented on refused prior approval application 20/00936/SOLPA. We were supportive of the principle of fitting PV panels but felt that more design information was necessary to ensure the design installation would be policy-compliant and appropriately mitigate harm to the visual amenity of the conservation area.

We remain supportive of the principle for the installation of PV panels onto the roofs of Bath’s existing building stock in light of the current Climate Emergency, as part of a ‘whole home’ approach to energy efficiency. We feel that installation on a contemporary building offers a beneficial opportunity for the sensitive integration of PV technology into the historic environment without the loss of material fabric. The position of the panels on the southern roof slope would be largely concealed by the Lambridge Street roofscape, and therefore would be of less than substantial harm to the visual amenity of the conservation area.

We are pleased to see that a monochrome, black-framed design has been selected. However, we suggest that further information regarding how the panels sit against the roof line. We maintain panels should sit as flush as possible on visible roof slopes to mitigate visual impact to the character and appearance of the conservation area, in accordance with Policy SCR2 of the Core Strategy and Placemaking Plan.