CONTEXT 177 : SEPTEMBER 2023 43 Local listed building consent I was interested to hear of a second local listed building consent order related to energy improvements by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC). Local planning authorities can grant local listed building consent orders which grant a general listed building consent for works that alter or extend certain listed buildings in their area. It does not extend to works of demolition. This means that owners do not need to apply for repeat listed building consent for works covered by the order. They are relevant for groups of similar or related listed buildings in multiple ownership, such as estate villages or groups of similar houses. As part of the UK government’s approach to delivering the global goals for sustainable development and recognising the climate emergency, RBKC seeks to be carbon neutral by 2040, 10 years early. In June 2022 the council became the first authority to introduce a local listed building consent order for sustainable technologies for energy improvement of listed buildings, namely solar panels. This gave consent for solar panels on most Grade II and II* listed buildings without the need for listed building consent, encouraging residents to consider energy saving measures. The local listed building consent order has conditions about positioning, materials and fixings that should be used to protect the appearance and fabric, and specified those buildings excluded from the order. The order expires in May 2027. The council’s approach was that ‘As an intervention, it is likely that solar equipment, where seen, would appear as an honest and clearly modern intervention, and normally read as part of the equipment necessary to service the uses conducted within the building. Equipment of this kind has already become familiar in the form of water tanks, television aerials or other rooftop equipment, and solar installations will join them as they become commonplace within the townscape as the imperative for carbon reduction measures increases and becomes part of everyday life. The impacts of sensitively designed and discreetly located solar PV or thermal panels have to be considered in this context, and the council concludes that in this context, with the right safeguards, they would not appear unduly prominent or incongruous features.’3 I have yet to hear of the success of the solar panel local listed building consent order. One of the recommendations is that regular reviews are undertaken to ensure that it remains fit for purpose, and the local planning authority must prepare annual reports while the order is in place. The more recent local listed building consent order relates to windows, specifically nonhistoric windows with double glazing and for the application of secondary glazing to historic windows. However, this does not include the replacement of windows that were installed in any listed building covered by the order before the date of listing. Paragraph 5 explains the justification and parameters. The council states that the order has been carefully designed to ensure that the architectural and historic special interest of listed buildings is protected through ensuring that there is minimal intervention, and no removal of historic fabric, and limited effects on the appearance of listed buildings. For that reason, it is considered that an appropriate balance has been achieved between a more streamlined approach to these works and fulfilment of the council’s legal duties to preserve special interest 4. This order expires in May 2028. See www.rbkc.gov.uk/planning-and- ³ Paragraph 4.9 of the Listed Building Consent Order for the Installation of Solar Panels on Grade II Listed Buildings in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. ⁴ Paragraph 6.3 of the Listed Building Consent Order for Window Works on Grade II Listed Buildings in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. building-control/planning-policy/ sustainably-retrofitting-your-home A grade too far I have been reading with interest the continuing debate about introducing a Grade III listing category for all unlisted buildings, as suggested by Will Arnold of the Institute of Structural Engineers and championed by Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud. Arnold’s idea was to designate all unlisted buildings as Grade III listed buildings so that demolition would be considered unacceptable unless the building was structurally unsound. The intention is to ensure that there would be a presumption to retrofit or refurbish, rather than demolish and build a new building. While this approach may raise public awareness of the issues of climate change and highlight the options for adaptive reuse of all types of existing buildings, to add a Grade III listing is, in my view, not the approach to take. Given that the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 provides statutory protection to buildings that have been specifically identified as of special architectural or historic interest, to suggest that every other building, over a certain size, should be listed as Grade III would undermine the heritage importance of the higher grades of listing, and would blur the lines between historic building conservation and sustainability. In any case, planning permission or prior approval is already required for the demolition of many building types. I want to end on a note of tribute to Elain Harwood, who sadly passed away in April. Her warm and effervescent personality will be missed as much as her expert knowledge and raising of awareness of 20th-century architecture of the UK. Many buildings, now listed, would have been lost without her intervention. Alexandra Fairclough is conservation officer for Cheshire East, a lecturer and a member of the IHBC legal panel. A former planning inspector, she was called to the Bar in 2009, and before that was IHBC law and practice coordinator.
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