Permissions

Legislation and Policy

When considering the impacts of proposals to improve a building’s energy efficiency, the Council must take into consideration the statutory duties set out in Section 16(2), 66(1) and 72(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. This places a duty on the Council to ensure that the special architectural and historic interest of listed buildings and conservation areas is preserved.

The Council also must take into consideration the National Planning Policy Framework. When it comes to energy efficiency improvement that require planning or listed building consents to be submitted to the Council, an emphasis is placed on considering the need to support energy efficiency and low carbon solutions in historic and traditional buildings (paragraph 164). However, any proposals seeking to improve energy efficiency and carbon emissions must also meet the requirements of building conservation set out in chapter 16 of the NPPF.

Chapter 16 of the National Planning Policy Framework states that listed buildings and conservation areas are an irreplaceable resource and should be conserved in a way which is appropriate to their significance (paragraph 195). This significance must be taken into consideration by the Council, and when considering an application to avoid or minimise any conflict between the proposal and the conservation of the listed building or conservation area. The Council must give great weight to the conservation of a listed building or conservation area (paragraph 205) and where it is identified that harm would be caused to a listed building or conservation area because of an application, the Council must take into consideration the public benefits of the proposal (paragraph 207-208).

There are other regulations, such as the Building Regulations, which an application must also comply with. It is important that these are identified before submitting an application.