Prince Charles urges builders to 'consider local architecture'

The Prince of Wales will today highlight the importance of considering local architecture before building new structures when he addresses an industry conference.

Charles will give the keynote speech at a meeting of architects, developers and Government representatives discussing the topic New Buildings.

The day-long event has been organised by the educational charity, the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, and the Prince's Regeneration Trust.

Among those speaking at the event held at St James's Palace in central London are community and local government minister Baroness Andrews and developer Trevor Osborne, chairman of the Osborne Group.

Later the Prince will attend a reception at Drapers' Hall in the capital to mark the 10th anniversary of the UK Statutory Register of Osteopaths.

Charles is Patron of the General Osteopathic Council and the event also launches the start of Advancing Osteopathy 2008, a three-day series of international conferences on research, practice and education.

The UK Statutory Register of Osteopaths opened 10 years ago and, as a result, all osteopaths are now regulated in the same way as doctors and dentists.

Osteopathy was one of the first complementary medicine professions to achieve statutory recognition and is a way of detecting and treating damaged parts of the body such as muscles, ligaments, nerves and joints.