How Wandsworth actually applies LP3: who leans on it, where it bites hardest, and how often it's invoked. The policy text is the rule; this is the behaviour.
LP3 is a published Wandsworth planning policy. This page records where it appears in the council's published planning decisions.
Cited under: Wandsworth Local Plan (adopted)
Wandsworth · LP3
Where LP3 is quoted — by ward
Fewer ~0More citations ~180
Showingre-scopes the headline figures and the trend
1,566
times cited
in parsed decision notices
74%
appeal survival
32 dismissed · 11 allowed at appeal
42 of 67
officer reach
63% of officers recorded in this period
West Putney
top hotspot ward
180 citations
What this policy is about
This policy requires new developments to protect and enhance historic buildings and areas. It supports proposals that preserve or improve the character, appearance, and setting of heritage assets, including gardens. The council will resist developments that harm these assets, especially in conservation areas or World Heritage Sites, unless significant public benefits outweigh the harm.
Plain-English summary of the adopted policy text below. The full text is the rule; this is the gist.
The policy — as adopted
Historic Environment
A. Development proposals will be supported where they sustain, preserve and, wherever possible, enhance the significance, appearance, character, function and setting of any heritage asset (both designated and non-designated), and the historic environment. The more important the asset the greater the weight that will be given to its conservation. Proposals should demonstrate that consideration has been given to the following:
1. The conservation of features and elements that contribute to the heritage asset's significance and character.
2. The reinstatement of features and elements that contribute to the significance of the heritage asset which have been lost.
3. The conservation and, where appropriate, the enhancement of the space in between and around buildings including front, side and rear gardens.
4. The removal of additions or modifications that are considered harmful to the significance of any heritage asset. This may include the removal of pebbledash, paint from brickwork, non-original style windows, doors, satellite dishes or other equipment.
5. Securing the optimum viable use for the heritage asset (being that which is likely to cause the least harm to its significance).
6. Adaptations to allow people with disabilities access to, or use of, a heritage building or asset and that these have been sensitively and appropriately designed.
B. The Council will work with its stakeholder partners to protect the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) for which the Westminster World Heritage Site (WWHS) was inscribed. The Council will also assist its stakeholder partners in reviewing the Westminster World Heritage Site Management Plan. Development proposals affecting the setting and approaches of the Westminster World Heritage Site must have regard to the most up-to-date Westminster World Heritage Site Management Plan and any other relevant guidance and will be required to demonstrate that it:
1. preserves or enhances the authenticity, integrity and Outstanding Universal Value of the WWHS, as set out in the official statement of Outstanding Universal Value;
2. preserves views into, across and from the Westminster World Heritage Site;
3. preserves or enhances the environmental quality of the public realm and vantage points; and
4. where appropriate provides the opportunity to better understand, appreciate and reveal the authenticity, integrity and Outstanding Universal Value of the Westminster World Heritage Site.
C. Development proposals will be required to positively contribute to and, whenever possible, enhance the setting and integrity of strategic and local views (as set out in the London Plan and in Table 14.1) and valued views and vistas (as identified in the Urban Design Study (2021)). Appropriate supporting evidence will be required to demonstrate acceptable visual impact on protected views.
D. The substantial or total demolition of buildings in Conservation Areas that make a positive contribution to the character of the area will be resisted unless it can be demonstrated that the tests set out in Part E have been fully complied with.
E. Development proposals involving substantial harm to (or total loss of significance of) designated heritage assets will be refused unless it can be clearly and convincingly demonstrated that the substantial harm or total loss is necessary to achieve substantial public benefits that outweigh that harm or loss.
F. Proposals for development involving ground disturbance in Archaeological Priority Areas (as identified on the Policies Map), or heritage assets of archaeological interest will need to be supported by a desk based archaeological assessment and may also require appropriately supervised field evaluation. The recording and publication of results will be required and in appropriate cases, the Council may also require preservation of assets in situ, or excavation.
G. Proposals affecting non-designated heritage assets (including locally listed buildings) will be assessed on the scale of the harm relative to the significance of the asset, in accordance with national policy and guidance.
H. Where there is evidence of deliberate neglect of, or damage to, a heritage asset, any consequential deteriorated or damaged state will not be taken into account in any decision.
I. Proposals for alterations and adaptations in order to provide for climate change mitigation alterations and adaption will be supported where it has been demonstrated that the requirements of Part A to this policy in particular have been met.
Verbatim from the adopted Wandsworth plan · source document. The council's published plan is the authoritative version.
How it lands
83% in approvals · 13% in refusals 1,566 citations in the selected period
The approval/refusal split is subscriber intelligenceUnlock →
Not filled in yet. This will hold how officers actually argue LP3 case by case, classified from their decision reports — the classification pass hasn't run. Nothing is paraphrased in its place.
What the published record shows
LP3 appears most often in West Putney, Wandsworth Common, Shaftesbury & Queenstown. It appears across 42 of 67 officers recorded in this period. The map shows the pattern for the selected period.
Who cites it — case-officer spreadfrom parsed decision notices · click an officer
Who leans on this policy — and how often — is subscriber intelligenceSubscribe to unlock →
Why it is cited — and what follows
83%
in approvals
1,294 citations
13%
in refusals
197 citations
This shows the decision reports in which LP3 appears. It does not yet claim that the policy caused those outcomes; 75 citations sit outside the approval/refusal split.
Reason · role · consequence
Not filled in yet — the classification pass over the citing passages hasn't run. When it has, this shows why LP3 was used, whether it supported approval or refusal, and what changed as a result. No conclusion is shown until that classification has been checked.
Why this policy is cited, and what follows, is subscriber intelligenceSubscribe to unlock →
From Planning Inspectorate decision letters that cite LP3. Dismissed = the council's refusal stood, the policy held; allowed = overturned. The tighter join — this borough's own refusals citing LP3 traced to their specific appeals — is still to come.
Citations, officer spread, ward and application-type counts parsed from published Wandsworth decision notices (high-confidence parses, approvals and refusals), joined to the canonical application record. One citation = one decision citing the policy. See the policy overview for every policy cited.
Atlas intelligence summarises patterns and observations from published planning records. Past decisions do not indicate how any future application will be determined. Every application is assessed on its own merits, having regard to the proposal, site, evidence and policies applying at the time. This information is provided for general information only and is not planning, legal, financial or professional advice.