There are 27 million houses in the UK which need to be comprehensively decarbonized in order to meet the UK’s legal commitment to be a zero-carbon economy by 2050.  That is 27 years from now – or 1 million homes per year from now until 2050.   

It’s not the most glamorous project we’ve ever done, but one which we are very committed to… 

We have recently been refused Planning Permission to renovate / extend and comprehensive retrofit one half of this modest semi on a 1950s former council estate in Wiltshire.  The proposals included a small rear extension and the conversion of the garage into living space. But the proposal also included a lovely warm wrapping in external insulation – by far the best way to retrofit a masonry building – retaining the thermal mass but also not reducing the size of the already tiny rooms.  We proposed rotating the roof through 90 degrees in order to overcome the problem caused by thickening the walls of one half of a semi-detached building, and we proposed a long life, low maintenance external zinc finish to make a positive contrast between the two halves of the building….so as not to look like a bit of an accident. But rotating the roof also allowed us to increase the thickness of the proposed insulation, and also to add a set of 14 solar PV panels to the (now south facing) roof slope.    

Unfortunately, despite having declared a climate emergency, and in the face of their own policies as well as national policies and objectives, and despite the very strong advice from their own head of Climate Change, Wiltshire Council have decided that in this case… 

“The detrimental impact on the visual amenity of the locality arising from the predominantly function led design approach to the proposal, is not outweighed by the sustainable benefits identified and as such should be refused in accordance with paragraph 134 of the NPPF.” 

So, inevitably, there will now be an appeal and a six-month delay. 

It is ridiculous, frustrating and very sad that there is so little understanding of design in Local Planning Departments, and no understanding of the difference between Design and Aesthetics. And for a Planning officers’ personal opinion on aesthetics to carry more weight than the “sustainable benefits” these days really does beggar belief.  

Watch this space…

Status:  Pending Planning Appeal 

Client. Private Client 

Contractor – TBA