Council blocks solar panels scheme for social housing flats in Bath

A housing association has been refused permission for its proposed installation of solar panels on a block of flats in Bath.

Clarkson House was built in the 1980s

LiveWest runs Clarkson House in Great Stanhope Street, where there are 54 flats over five levels.

Last year Bath & North East Somerset Council approved LiveWest’s plans to carry out major repairs to the social housing properties where damp and mould cases had accounted for a high volume of repairs.

Then, earlier this year, LiveWest (which recently merged with Bromford Flagship) applied to put photovoltaic (PV) panels on the south and west-facing sides of the roof of Clarkson House.

It said they would provide renewable energy to the residents and reduce the building’s carbon emissions.

In its application for a certificate of lawfulness for a proposed development, LiveWest said it had an “overarching obligation” to meet three criteria within its properties:

• To achieve the government target to meet the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) C Rating by 2030.
• To achieve the government’s Decent Homes Standard.
• To achieve the recent implementation of Awaab’s Law, which prioritises addressing damp and mould issues alongside emergency repairs.

The application said Clarkson House is not a Georgian property but a replica dating from the 1980s, designed to sympathetically match with the existing area and does not easily stand out as a more modern building.

It said it is in the setting of multiple listed buildings and within the Bath Conservation Area. “Therefore it is of high importance that any works carried out to the building are done with the wider city in mind.

“The installation of PV panels would be to a roof from the 1980s and would not be visible from either street level or from neighbouring properties and would have a minimal impact on the visual character of the building and surrounding area.”

But council planning officers said in their report that they could not conclude that the proposals would be lawful.

They described Clarkson House as being in a “very sensitive” location and they did not have information on the types of panels of fixings that would be used, nor how much the PV would protrude beyond the roof slope.

They had twice sought further information from the applicant, but it was not received.