- Decision
- refused, 17 September 2026
- Decided by
- Council officer (delegated): Case officer Lindsey Young
- Authority
- Stratford-on-Avon (West Midlands)
- Application reference
- 26/00922/FUL
- Procedure
- householder
- Development
- Replacement of modern timber windows with uPVC double-glazed units on a Grade II listed cottage (twin LBC 26/00924/LBC also refused)
- Site context
- listed building setting, national landscape
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- HE6(4)
- Development plan policies
- Stratford-on-Avon Core Strategy 2016 CS.8, CS.11
- Main issues
- listed building; uPVC; public benefits
Summary
Planning permission (and, in a twin decision, listed building consent) refused on 17 September 2026 for uPVC double-glazed windows on a Grade II listed cottage in the Cotswold National Landscape. The refusal reason cites only NPPF HE6. The officer gave Core Strategy CS.8 limited weight as not aligning with the 2026 heritage policies.
Issues and findings
- Plan weight. "Policy CS.8 of the Core Strategy does not align with the HE policies in the NPPF 2026 and therefore only limited weight is given to this policy" (Report pp.2–3).
- Harm. The existing windows "do not possess any inherent significance", so replacement is acceptable in principle, but "the change from timber to uPVC … will result in harm to the significance of the heritage asset and therefore be contrary to Policy HE6 (4) of the NPPF" (pp.3–4).
- Public benefits. "The Local Planning Authority does not consider there to be any public benefits which would outweigh the harm" (Notice reason 1). The report does address energy efficiency: "it could also be possible to achieve energy efficiency improvements using slim line double glazing" (p.3). It does not name HE6(4)'s own example of "enabling energy efficiency … measures", or CC2(2), but the reasoning is that the benefit can be had with less harm.
Planning balance
HE6(4): harm of considerable importance and weight against no identified public benefit. Refused.
What made the difference
The material (uPVC), not the principle of replacement. The officer signposted that slimline double-glazed timber casements would be acceptable.
Transferable points
- SDC is refusing on NPPF HE6(4) alone, treating CS.8 as out of step with the new HE chapter (pp.2–3; Notice).
- Energy-efficiency benefits of double glazing may be dismissed where a less harmful alternative (slimline timber) exists. That is explicit in the Trinity College LBC (stratford-26-01387-LBC) and stated more briefly here (p.3). An appellant could argue that CC2(2) requires substantial weight to be given.
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| HE6(4) | fail | considerable | timber to uPVC harms significance; "does not consider there to be any public benefits"; energy efficiency addressed briefly as "it could also be possible to achieve energy efficiency improvements using slim line double glazing" (p.3), i.e. a less harmful alternative exists; HE6(4)'s energy example and CC2(2) are not named |
| HE6(1) | harm | substantial | quoted verbatim; s16/s66 and Barnwell cited |
| Transitional(2) | conflict | limited | CS.8 given only limited weight because "Core Strategy policy CS.8 does not align with the new NPPF HE policies" (p.4); refusal rests on HE6(4) alone |
| CC2(2) | not-engaged | not named; the report deals with energy efficiency by pointing to slimline double glazing as a less harmful alternative (p.3) |
Key facts
- The existing windows are modern and of no inherent significance; the officer would accept slimline double-glazed flush timber casements
- Refusal reason cites only NPPF HE6(4); no development plan policy
- Conservation Officer objected; no third-party or parish comments
Related decisions
Sources
This note is one of the decisions behind the NPPF 2026 Navigator, which shows how each Framework test has been applied across all the decisions in the database. Also available as Markdown.