- Decision
- refused, 27 August 2026
- Decided by
- Council officer (delegated): Case officer Heather Kenny
- Authority
- Stratford-on-Avon (West Midlands)
- Application reference
- 26/01387/LBC
- Procedure
- delegated
- Development
- Listed building consent to replace single-glazed sashes and casements with slimline double-glazed units and replace nine sash box frames (Grade II)
- Site context
- listed building setting, conservation area, inside settlement
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- HE6(4)
- Development plan policies
- Stratford-on-Avon Core Strategy 2016 CS.8
- Main issues
- listed building; windows; energy efficiency as public benefit
Summary
Listed building consent refused on 27 August 2026 for replacing historic sashes with slimline double glazing at Trinity College, a Grade II building. This is an early SDC application of HE6(4)'s new wording, which names energy efficiency as an "important public benefit". The officer accepted there was some energy-efficiency benefit but held it did not outweigh "higher end" harm, because the same gain could be achieved in less harmful ways.
Issues and findings
- Harm. "It is considered that the proposals will lead to harm of the higher end to the significance of the designated heritage asset" (Report p.8).
- Energy efficiency as public benefit. The officer quoted HE6(4) in full, including "enabling energy efficiency and low carbon heating measures to be employed", and noted "some benefit arising from the proposals for repair … and making energy efficiency improvements" (p.8). However, "national best practice guidance from Historic England outlines alternative ways that energy efficiency of historic windows is able to be improved without needing to resort to their replacement. As such it is not considered that there are public benefits that would outweigh the identified harm" (p.9).
- Condition. Decay was "not … evidenced that the windows are in such an advanced state of decay that they are now incapable of being repaired" (p.8).
Planning balance
HE6(4) together with s16(2): the heritage harm outweighed a modest public benefit that could be obtained another way.
What made the difference
Historic fabric, not modern replacements, was being lost. The energy benefit was treated as achievable without that loss.
Transferable points
- The new HE6(4) example of energy efficiency as a public benefit does not override harm where less harmful alternatives exist (pp.8–9). Available alternatives reduce the weight of the benefit.
- Contrast stratford-26-00922-FUL, where modern windows of no significance were replaced. There the officer did not mention energy benefit at all.
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 | harm "of the higher end" (short of substantial) from loss of historic sashes and frames; energy efficiency acknowledged as a benefit named in HE6(4) but discounted because Historic England guidance shows less harmful ways to achieve it |
| HE6(1) | harm | substantial | quoted; s16(2) and Barnwell cited |
Key facts
- Grade II listed building (list entry 1204635)
- Varying decay, including failed glazing bars, but not shown to be beyond repair
- Officer cited Historic England HEAG321 and retrofit guidance; slimline double glazing previously approved elsewhere by the LPA was distinguished
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.