When urgent structural issues arise in a heritage building, the clock starts ticking. The need to act swiftly often conflicts with the detailed and protective processes of heritage planning, leading to delays and uncertainty.
That tension was felt acutely at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, when RAAC was discovered in the roofs of several Grade I listed buildings. Some of these buildings were still housing students and the risk to safety demanded immediate action.
Balancing that urgency with the constraints of heritage consent required a considered but fast-moving strategy. Our recent work at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, which involved replacing RAAC roofs across five of the grade I listed buildings, provides a clear blueprint for success for such complex projects.
We progressed from appointment to full planning and listed building consent in just seven months, a remarkable achievement for a project of this complexity. The success was not in the specifics of the case, but in the principles applied. Here are the key lessons for accelerating any heritage project at pace:
Build a unified front through proactive collaboration
In high stakes projects, a conventional step-by-step approach to engagement can slow progress and leave stakeholders feeling disconnected from key decisions. The most effective way to build momentum is to bring all key stakeholders together from the very beginning. At St Catherine’s, we initiated a series of joint pre-application meetings with Oxford City Council, Historic England and the Twentieth Century Society. This created a single forum for transparent discussion, allowing complex issues around the building’s fabric and architectural significance to be resolved collaboratively. By agreeing on key assumptions and sharing technical information openly, we built a foundation of trust that derisked the formal application process and prevented future objections. This unified approach is the cornerstone of planning at pace.
Plan in phases to move faster
Speed is not just about working harder, it is about working smarter. Strategically designing the application process itself can significantly shorten determination timelines. The St Catherine’s project was divided into two phases. This was a deliberate tactical decision. By splitting the works, each application’s footprint fell within the threshold for a delegated application, avoiding the longer timescales of a major application. To ensure the integrity of the overall scheme was clear, the application for the second phase was submitted before the first was even decided. This demonstrated a cohesive vision for the entire campus and gave the local authority confidence in the comprehensive nature of the solution.
Anticipate technical surprises
Securing planning permission is only half the battle, the journey from consent to starting on site can be fraught with delays caused by pre-commencement conditions. The key is to anticipate and address these requirements before the application is even determined. During the pre-application stage for St Catherine’s, we agreed with planning officers precisely what information was needed to avoid such conditions. We then submitted a comprehensive package of information with the application, including a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP), a historic building record and an Arboricultural Method Statement. This front loading of detail meant that once consent was granted, work could begin almost immediately thereby saving time.
Making Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) work on a constrained, historic site
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is transforming planning policy but for a heritage site like St Catherine’s, it can bring challenges.
BNG applied despite the site being a formally listed garden. With no space on-site to deliver a gain, and off-site credits risking delays, we needed a practical fix. So, we implemented a subtle red line boundary adjustment to qualify for the ‘de minimis’ exemption.
Not perfect, but it worked and it highlights a broader issue. Policy like BNG does not always align with the realities of managing legacy landscapes. For estate teams, navigating this means leaning on trusted consultants and building robust, site-specific evidence to find pragmatic, compliant solutions.
From principles to practice
While the scale of the challenge at St Catherine’s College was distinctive, the lessons learned are universally applicable. Any project requiring urgent intervention, such as the removal of RACC, on a heritage asset will benefit from this strategic approach. By collaborating throughout the process, designing a planning route built for expediency and preparing detailed solutions upfront, you can transform a reactive and uncertain process into a proactive and predictable one. These principles provide a robust framework to deliver safe, sensitive and swift outcomes for the most important historic buildings.
If your estate or institution is facing urgent works, particularly in a listed setting, the lessons are clear:
- Engage early and bring stakeholders in before submission
- Integrate teams to avoid parallel working between planning and heritage
- Use phasing to unlock faster progress
- Be transparent and show your workings, not just your conclusions
At Edgars, we don’t just work fast. We work with purpose to protect, preserve and move your plans forward.
If you are navigating the complexities of a heritage planning matter, contact our team to discuss how we can assist.
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