Agenda item

Objective: Identifying factors to develop a workable balance between protecting heritage and implementing environmental solutions (retrofit); Receiving feedback from the community retrofit project and other initiatives to meet our climate net zero targets.

Frances Crick - Climate, Flooding & Decarbonisation Manager

Chris Gomm - Head of Development Management, Enforcement & Compliance 

The Vice-Chair thanked the officers for attending, and for the responses to her questions.  

Frances Crick (Climate, Flooding and Decarbonisation Manager) said the O&S request had come at an opportune moment, as officers have been working for some time on ways to reconcile heritage and retrofit issues. She highlighted the key issues as set out in the report, including  the challenges and barriers faced by owners of listed buildings, the help on offer from the council and its partners, the different approaches to retrofit that can be taken by homeowners, and systems being implemented by other local authorities to support this type of work. 

She said the latter part of the report is an overview of what can and is being done at CBC, having identified the challenges, including retrofit initiatives such as Future Fit Homes and Furbnow, the appointment of a CBC retrofit engagement officer, and looking at ways to provide training for installers. acknowledging the financial implications for the council. 

With reference to a question about Local Listed Building Consent Orders (LLBCO) she confirmed that the council will need to work with Historic England and other stakeholders if it decides to go down that route.

Chris Gomm (Head of Development Management, Enforcement and Compliance), in response to a written question, confirmed that a large proportion of enforcement cases relate to listed buildings, but not generally to unauthorised retrofit interventions.  Typically these complaints relate to unauthorised exterior work, interior works being more difficult to detect.  He said there is no evidence to suggest that unauthorised works to listed buildings are due to difficulties in getting planning permission or listed building consent; the majority stem from a lack of understanding about what does or doesn’t need consent.  He added that there is a cost implication around enforcement action – it brings no income, and while retrospective planning applications carry a fee, listed building applications do not - but it remains a very necessary function of the planning service as a whole.

The Vice-Chair invited Members’ questions and comments:

-       in response to a comment that external wall insulation (EWI) is more difficult for a period property and that the additional considerations may put some people off doing the work, the officer said that pre-app advice is available and would help ensure that home-owners have clear and correct advice from the start of their project;

-       external wall insulation is a very tricky intervention with listed buildings, and must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.  In many cases, it will not be acceptable, in view of the implications of bringing the walls out, although there are exceptions where it can be achieved.  Homeowners are encouraged to seek pre-app advice, and the planning team is looking to offer a more focussed retrofit pre-app service;

-       it is clear that many people don’t know where to start and the journey can be fraught with difficulties if work is not carried out correctly.  There is an increasing amount of information available on the internet to help homeowners understand what is possible, such as the Centre of Sustainable Energy in Bristol and documentation from Bath and North East Somerset’s own project.  The council would not want to spend time and resource in producing its own guides which would only repeat work already done by others;

-       the Furbnow talk at the recent Future Fit Homes event was very helpful, with a lot of advice in one place;  these events are a great way to engage the community and explain the options to the average Cheltenham resident, and it will be fantastic if the council can continue facilitating these;

-       it is good to note that a key risk - the potential barrier around planning team capacity - has been addressed through additional funding and resources being made available to increase the planning team through the 2025-26 budget announced last week;

-       Local Listed Building Consent Orders (LLBCOs) sound like a good option, providing a degree of standardisation, with the potential to be combined with officer advice and follow-up for a more holistic approach, and although there are costs to be considered, the education gap for advice needs to be addressed, and it is hoped that a strategy which combines LLBCOs with more specific and tailored advice can be taken forward when CBC no longer exists;

-       bespoke advice is ideal as every home is different, although many share the same construction.  Furbnow offers advice and takes a whole house retrofit approach to suit the owners as well as the house, moving the process towards PAS2035 (Publicly Available Specifications).  It is a good approach to help owners with understanding whether EWI is suitable for their properties, but comes with additional cost to homeowners; 

-       there are a lot of park homes in Cheltenham, mostly situated on land owned by others, and owners have asked whether they need legal permission to carry out work to reduce their carbon footprint and improve efficiency.  Officers confirmed that the special needs of park homes have been addressed at various times through government support, and park home owners are advised to talk to Severn Wye Energy Agency who are contracted under the Warm and Well scheme to provide the best advice, pointing people in the right direction and sharing information about grants and support available;

-       it is a sad fact that with global warming and more rainfall, heritage assets are going to have to stand up to rougher weather in the future.    This is being considered and adaptation work is being carried out across the borough; a flooding engineer and Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust both spoke at the Future Fit Homes event about mitigation methods, including simple solutions such as rain gardens  to capture water from roofs and slow down the flow into the drainage system;

-       although not related to retrofitting, tarmacking of front gardens remains popular for car parking and convenience, and can cause real problems with flooding.  Officers confirmed that planning permission is required for this type of work, and won’t be granted if no soakaway provision is included.  There remain some cases of unauthorised work being done in Cheltenham, and these will always be investigated by enforcement officers if they are made aware;

-       regarding any fundamental tension in planning rules and policy that might get in the way of retrofitting a listed building and whether there is enough flexibility with the 2030 Net Zero goal fast approaching, the Historic England advice note on retrofit and energy efficiency makes the point that some properties are more likely to be improved than others and that listed buildings are the least likely.  In the long run, we need to look to improving the energy efficiency and fabric of listed buildings and then changing to low carbon electric heating systems which make use of the green grid – this will be step in the right direction even if not improving listed buildings as much as we might like;

-       the Historic England advice note was published in July 2024 and sets out different types of technical general guidance for the public, owners of listed buildings, and conservation officers.  It gives a lot more flexibility and introduces a more consistent approach for conservation officers to follow, rather than rely on their individual judgement;

-       regarding the council-owned listed buildings and what is being done to make these more energy efficient, the council was unsuccessful in applying for government funding from the Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund to start on a journey which would include feasibility studies for investment.  Officers are very aware of the fast-approaching Net Zero deadline and trying to move things along with council-owned buildings, other than the Municipal Offices.  This work is ongoing, and officers will report back on progress at a future meeting.  

The Vice-Chair thanked officers for the informative paper and for their helpful advice and guidance today.