Agenda item

This report aims to enable the council to publish guidance on caring for historic windows and considering changes.

Resolved:   To publish the “Historic Windows. Planning, Design and Conservation Guidance Note” on the council’s web site.

Reason:      To assist the public and enable efficient delivery of council services.

Resolved:   To delegate to the Head of Planning and Development Services the approval of any future review of this guidance, and subsequent editing and re-publication, necessary from time to time to ensure it is kept up to date.

Reason:      To ensure guidance is kept up to date with national policy and enable efficient delivery of council services.

The report was presented by the Design and Conservation Manager, assisted by the Head of Planning and Development Services.

The Design and Conservation Manager explained the council’s policy on windows, as set out in the report, and explained that the report was intended to be an easy reference guide to assist both residents in historic buildings and also council planning officers .

He stressed that setting out what permissions are required in different circumstances was intended to come across informative and helpful, not negative or prescriptive, as had been inferred by the speaker in public participation.

He advised that the guidance was brief (six pages) and provided links to supporting information from Historic England. The guidance identified six types of works concerning historic windows and gave general best practice guidance for each; these areas were painting, repairing, adding secondary glazing, replacing glazing, replacing windows on listed buildings, and changing windows on non-listed building within a conservation area.

The Head of Planning and Development Services responded to speakers comments in public participation, stating that this item concerned the council’s duty of care to comply with guidance in conservation areas and with listed buildings, ideally to pre-empt getting into a position involving appeals and enforcement. While climate change and energy efficiency were also of concern, these was not the focus of this item.

The Executive Member asked about the scenario set out in paragraph 16 of the report (concerning the replacement of traditional historic windows with double/triple glazed, not in a listed building but in conservation area), asking how this process would happen in practice.

The Design and Conservation Manager said that while permissions varied on specific properties, four panes in white (double/triple glazed) replacing four panes in white (original single glazed) tended to be fine, as outlined in the guidance; however, wanting to change the same window to eight panes or black frames would almost certainly be a situation necessitating permission from the local authority.

The Executive Member thanked officers for clarifying that “like for like” was visual and could include swapping single glazed to double or triple glazed panels.

The Executive Member acknowledged Cllr Vassie’s comments in public participation, agreeing that climate change was also a very important concern, but the points raised were more likely to be addressed as part of a Climate Change Supplementary Planning Document and not as part of this item. He stated that he would be happy to work with Cllr Vassie on this SPD or elsewhere as he was aware of the Councillor’s expertise in this area.

He commended officers for producing this style of guidance, and encouraged more like this in the future to assist residents and officers. He then

Resolved:   To publish the “Historic Windows. Planning, Design and Conservation Guidance Note” on the council’s web site.

Reason:      To assist the public and enable efficient delivery of council services.

Resolved:   To delegate to the Head of Planning and Development Services the approval of any future review of this guidance, and subsequent editing and re-publication, necessary from time to time to ensure it is kept up to date.

Reason:      To ensure guidance is kept up to date with national policy and enable efficient delivery of council services.