After a passing bus passenger said that she had seen the landmark Wembley Hill Lodge being demolished there was a flurry of activity on social media. The Victorian Society tweeted concern as it is a listed building. In fact back in January 2023 Brent Council planning officers had approved partial demolition and rebuild of the listed but fire damaged Lodge as well as permission for a two storey house to be built in the grounds.
The Victorian Society does not appear to have been consulted despite the cottage's listed status. LINK
The site today
I took a photograph of the current state of the site from the 297 bus this lunchtime and it is indeed a sad sight. Foundations for the new house were being prepared before restoration work has begun. The architect, Alex Nacu used an archaic form of the word 'restoration' in their planning statement. There was no reference to the new house in that statement so I had to go to the plans. Wembley Hill Lodge was not listed on their 'Projects' links.
Work is in progress but it is worth referring back to the documentation of the January 2023 decision to see what is being envisaged, recommendations and in particular the Conditions appended to the approval. Are they being adhered to? Work appears to have begun on the footings for the 'New House' before restoration of the cottage. The cottage was left open to the elements and resulting damage, which made it less likely to survive.
Historic England’s Position
This application reflects the results of our pre-application discussions and therefore Historic England is pleased to support these proposals as presented. In our view the accurate restoration / reconstruction of the lodge would deliver clear heritage related public benefits, securing the building's long term future and returning it to its optimum viable use. The proposals would also likely lead to the building's removal from the Heritage at Risk Register.
The restoration of the lodge is of the highest priority and therefore should your council be minded to approve the application, it’s essential in our view that the proposed new building to the rear of 114 Wembley Hill Road is clearly linked to the repair and delivery of the listed building, secured through conditions and/or legal agreement. We would consider the phased repair and restoration of the listed building prior to the delivery and/or occupation of the new building would comprise a significant public
benefit that should be taken into account when weighing the application in the planning balance.
We would further recommend the following safeguards are secured through discussions with the applicant to ensure the repair is executed in a scholarly and faithful manner.
*Detailed building recording is carried out prior to any demolition to inform the reconstruction of the listed cottage.
*Method statements concerning the dismantling of the existing structure and repairs to the remaining historic fabric using approved conservation techniques, ensuring adequate protection throughout.
Officers’ Report
The NPPF (2021) recognises that heritage assets are an irreplaceable resource and seeks to conserve them in a manner appropriate to their significance. It further states that when considering the impact of the development on the significance of a designated heritage asset, great weight should be given to the assets conservation (and the more important the asset, the greater the weight should be). This is irrespective of whether any potential harm amounts to substantial harm, total loss or less than substantial harm to its significance. Policy BH1 of the London Plan states that where heritage assets have been identified as being 'At Risk', boroughs should identify specific opportunities for them to contribute to regeneration and place-making, and they should set out strategies for their repair and re-use.
A Structural Survey/ Inspection Report has been submitted as part of this application, detailing the site conditions at the time of submission of this application in which no works have been undertaken to protect or preserve the site since the fire in 2013. The report notes that the building is in extreme poor structural condition as it remained unprotected from weather conditions with only the footprint, chimney and external walls remaining -the surviving windows and doors exposed to moisture and fungal attack, the load bearing walls are unstable, external cracks are also evident on some of the building's walls with shrubs propogating through the cracks in several locations which indicates that the building is experiencing cracking and movements. The building is dangerous and at the risk of collapsing.
The Heritage Statement submitted with this application, sets out the need to demolish and reconstruct the surviving portion of the lodge that burnt down and to build a new addition of the footprint of the 1930s extension and a New House on-site. The design approach follows the conservation philosophy of reconstruction and addition to historic structure. As per the Listed Building Consent (21/2009) granted in 2021, the design approach towards the Listed Building remains unchanged -with the only difference for this Listed Building Consent application is the removal of the proposed basements in the 'Lodge' and 'New House' that was granted full planning permission. The Council's Heritage Conservation officer notes that the plans submitted with this Listed Building Consent application does not provide a basement level, and that the 'Lodge' never had an original basement to begin with so the removal of the proposed basement would not harm the significance of the building.The Heritage Conservation Officer is overall satisfied with the proposed works which would preserve the character and setting of the Listed building as a building of special architectural or historical interest.
Notwithstanding this, conditions would be issued with any consent to ensure that the restoration and reconstruction works to the 'Lodge' is completed before works before works for the 'New House' can commence. This would ensure that the restoration of the lodge is prioritized within the proposed development.
On balance, and considering the existing 'At Risk' state of the building and the restoration/ proposed works to restore the building, the proposal is considered acceptable in principle
CONDITIONS
4. No development shall take place before detailed building recording (internally and externally) is carried out prior to any demolition to inform the reconstruction of the listed Lodge. This should be submitted and agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.
Reason: To safeguard the architectural or historic interest, necessary repair work and significance of the Listed Building.
5 No development shall take place before a method statement has been provided concerning the dismantling of the existing structure and repairs to the remaining historic fabric of the listed lodge using approved conservation techniques. This should also illustrate adequate protection of the surviving fabric.
The report(s) should be submitted with a phased schedule of works for the whole site and agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.
Reason: To safeguard the architectural or historic interest, necessary repair work and significance of the Listed Building.
6 No development shall take place before specialist contractors in restoration and repair works have been agreed by the Local Planning Authority.
Reason: To safeguard the architectural or historic interest, necessary repair work and significance of the Listed Building.
7 No development shall take place before sample panels of brickwork for the listed Lodge and the new build demonstrating the colour, texture, bond and pointing of the brickwork have been provided onsite for inspection and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The details shall include the colour, texture, bond and pointing of the brickwork and the development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details.
Reason: To ensure a high quality design and to protect the character of the listed buildings the visual amenity of the area.
8 No development to the listed Lodge shall take place before the following has been provided and agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.
· A window and door schedule including sections at scale 1:10.
Reason: To safeguard the architectural or historic interest, character, appearance and significance of the Listed Building
Philip Grant wrote a guest post in 2021 regarding the first planning submission for the site and thought that though not perfect, it offered a reasonable solution to the problem of what to do with the house and site. LINK
