12 CONTEXT 189 : SEPTEMBER 2026 Scotland Although there have been no new built heritage legislative changes in Scotland, there have been significant changes in policy: a new national designation strategy, withdrawal of key planning advice, and a 2026 programme to produce new heritage guidance aligned with National Planning Framework 4. In July Historic Environment Scotland confirmed that it would produce new historic environment advice notes to replace PAN 2/2011 and PAN 71. The new guidance proposes to ensure alignment with NPF4 (2023), and will update conservation area management and archaeological implications in planning. Northern Ireland In Northern Ireland rising judicial scrutiny in planning caselaw means that conservation officers must now apply PPS 6 (Planning Policy Statement 6: Planning, Archaeology and the Built Heritage) with exceptional clarity and rigour. In July the Department for Communities published a new Historic Environment Policy for Northern Ireland as part of the Heritage Culture and Creativity Programme. It aims to support heritage-led regeneration, netzero and sustainability, health and wellbeing, and skills and learning. Case law Spitalfields Historic Building Trust v Tower Hamlets (Supreme Court, 2026) The case concerned whether a planning authority may lawfully restrict voting on a deferred application to committee members who were present at the earlier meeting where evidence was first heard. The Supreme Court upheld the validity of such a rule, finding that local authorities possess wide procedural discretion under the Local Government Act 1972, and that continuity of membership promotes informed and fair decision-making. The court rejected arguments that the rule breached natural justice, emphasising that decision-makers must have engaged directly with the evidential material forming the basis of the determination. Although not a heritage-law case in substance, the judgment has notable consequences for heritage governance. Heritage applications are frequently deferred for design revisions, viability testing, or further assessment of significance and harm. The ruling therefore stabilises a procedural area that is often contested in high-profile heritage disputes. It strengthens the defensibility of decisions by ensuring that those voting have heard the full heritage evidence, and it reduces the scope for procedural challenge by amenity groups or developers. More broadly, the decision reinforces the principle that heritage determinations must rest on a coherent evidential record and that procedural integrity is integral to sound heritage planning outcomes. Wiltshire Council v SOSHCLG and Another [2026] EWHC 463 (Admin) (3 March 2026) The High Court ruled that a fire was not a reason for a decision for planning permission for housing to be quashed. Outline planning permission had been given in 2024 for the construction of 315 homes, and other employment and leisure uses. The applicants had appealed and the inspector had allowed the proposal. The local planning authority challenged this decision in April 2025 and there was a fire a few weeks later. This damaged some of the buildings which were to be developed or have works undertaken. Three former firstworld-war aircraft hangars at Old Sarum Airfield, listed at Grade II*, are recognised by Historic England as one of the best-preserved firstworld-war flying fields, the hangars being designated for their special architectural and historic interest as rare survivors from the early days of aerial combat. The fire destroyed the Grade II* listed Hangar 3. The planning authority argued that the fire reduced the prospects of restoring Hangar 3, and that the inspector would have come to a different decision. The High Court judge ruled that there was no evidence that the fire was started deliberately; that there was no new evidence or any mistake of fact by the inspector; and that the planning permission for 315 homes on the site remained valid. The judge stated that the developer was required to rebuild or restore the hangar. Clandon Park case A judicial review brought by the Georgian Group is challenging the grant of planning permission and listed building consent for works at the National Trust owned Clandon Park. After the early-18th-century Grade I listed Palladian mansion near Guildford was devastated by fire in 2014, the National Trust set about undertaking a partial restoration. However, in 2022 the plans to restore the building were replaced with a lighter-touch approach, reflecting the fact that Clandon Park in 2015 after being gutted by fire (Photo: BristolIcarus, Wikimedia)
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