ADVICE: How to secure planning in the Country House Sector

If you are looking to develop a listed building for use as a hotel, or your existing hotel is a listed building and you want to make substantial improvements, planning permission can be one of the most serious obstacles in the process. NICK CHILDS explains some secrets on how to obtain planning on heritage assets. There was once a time, and not so long ago, when hiring an architect, having a chat to the conservation officer and submitting drawings was enough to guarantee you planning consent. These days though it is just not that easy and unfortunately the planning process is a great deal more complicated. Some 20 years ago in the 1990’s, when country house hotels were developing rapidly, I secured fabulous consent with no more than a set of plans and an artist’s impression. Admittedly we sometimes had to butter up local residents with a free spa or golf membership, but on the whole the idea of bringing a dilapidated country house back into use along with a degree of public access was thought to be a good thing. This meant I was able to deliver planning permission for some spectacular developments. Cast your minds back to The Forest of Arden at Meriden in Warwickshire, for Marriott, for example. We secured and delivered a new build 200-bedroom country club hotel with leisure and conference facilities and two golf courses, smack bang in the middle of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Or The Ickworth in Suffolk, for Luxury Family Hotels, where we converted the east wing of the ancestral home of the Marquis of Bristol in collaboration with the National Trust. These projects would be a great deal more difficult today. Why? Because the planning process is a great deal more complicated now. There are many more things to be considered as everything is protected, not only the buildings but also the landscape, trees and ecology. In order to secure permission we have to prove there will be no harm or detriment to the existing condition of the building. And in most cases we have to show development will enhance whatever feature or characteristic we are considering, for example the better setting of the listed building or improvements to the landscape. All this requires a great deal of expertise, not only from the architects involved but also from a whole raft of other specialists. On current applications we are employing six, seven or even eight other consultants who provide specialist input into the planning submission as well as dealing with the various responses from authorities, before hopefully reaching an agreement. So what are the secrets and strategies we use to obtain these valuable consents for our clients? Firstly get a good architect (I would say that wouldn’t I). But appointing a firm with real experience in this sector, which is used to dealing with complex buildings in sensitive contexts, is invaluable. Not all existing or potential country hotels are Grade I listed, but most have particular qualities or gorgeous surroundings, which mean they require sensitive and specialist approach. Have a reasonable, sensible and appropriate proposal to take to the planners. There is no point beginning the process with an extravagant or excessive design and planning to reduce it down to something acceptable later. You will be more successful if you go into initial negotiations - for negotiations there will be - with an appropriate and considered scheme, supported with relevant research and justified by a business case. Do your historical research. It’s essential to know at least as much as the local conservation officer, if not more, to avoid being caught out. Present a scheme that meets the needs of the business and justify with a good business case relating this to the expectations of the market, the relevant local competition and the long-term financial viability of the hotel. Anticipate perhaps more than a dozen critical aspects to the application. We have 17 on a current application we are preparing for a hotel on the Dorset coast, so it is important to identify these issues early. Issues range from the architectural or historic importance of the building itself to trees being in the way of an extension, sensitive ecology, usually bats, or highway and traffic concerns on country lanes. Whatever it is there will often be one that is a potential deal breaker and needs to be dealt with early to reduce the risk. One way to identify possible problems is to use the process of pre-application enquiry by which we submit an outline proposal to the Local Planning Authority for consultation and discussion. This allows the planners to establish the acceptability in principle of the proposal but also highlight significant issues. Generally however, the planning system supports the use of historic assets, such as country houses, as hotels. It is agreed this is a good use for them - after all these houses were designed to accommodate lots of people and entertain guests, just as they do now. Even English Heritage, now Historic England, has gone into print supporting appropriate development of assets. And when it comes to the possible hurdles to achieving permission there are usually solutions, many of which we have developed over the 25 years we have been involved in this dialogue. As the planning context has become more demanding we have developed methods for dealing with it and we have never failed to get our clients the consent they needed. We are proud that our expertise in this field has been widely recognised, to the extent we are now working with Historic England on one of their most important and spectacular properties, Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, to find ways to provide the facilities they need and increase revenue. Country house hotels really are the most wonderful properties to work with, while sometimes awkward and often frustrating, they are ultimately always rewarding in the end. SIX CRUCIAL PLANNING POINTS Get a good architect Prepare a reasonable, sensible and appropriate proposal for the planners Do thorough historical research to maintain credibility Put together a good business case Use the process of pre-application Identify critical issues early on About the Author Nick Childs has more than 25 years’ experience in hotel design and development, specifically in the development of heritage assets. In 1994 he was a founding partner of the Practice of Childs + Sulzmann Architects, a business which has established a reputation for high quality architecture and successful developments in historically sensitive locations. Outside the office Nick has an extensive CV: he is a former Member of the National Council of the RIBA, a Board Member of the RIBA Journal, Architecture Advisor of the South West Arts and most recently a member of the Hospitality Experts consortium, an initiative set up by Hotel Marketing firm Journey.