Barnwell Manor Wind Energy Ltd v East Northamptonshire District Council & Others [2014] EWCA Civ 137
Barnwell Manor is one of the most important modern planning cases on listed buildings and heritage setting. The Court of Appeal held that section 66(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 requires decision-makers to give considerable importance and weight to the desirability of preserving the setting of a listed building when carrying out the planning balance.
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- Neutral citation
- [2014] EWCA Civ 137
- Court
- Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
- Judgment date
- 18th February 2014
- Judge
- Lord Justice Maurice Kay, Lord Justice Sullivan and Lady Justice Rafferty
- Case number
- C1/2013/0843
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What Barnwell Manor decided
A Planning Inspector had granted permission for a four-turbine wind farm in Northamptonshire. The turbines would affect the setting of a number of heritage assets, including the Grade I listed Lyveden New Bield and its highly significant historic landscape.
The Inspector found that the harm to the setting of the heritage assets would be less than substantial and decided that the renewable-energy benefits outweighed that harm. Lang J quashed the decision. The Court of Appeal dismissed the developer’s appeal and agreed that the Inspector had failed to give proper effect to the statutory duty.
Considerable importance and weight must be given to preservation
Section 66(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 requires special regard to be had to the desirability of preserving a listed building or its setting.
The Court of Appeal held that this is not simply an instruction to identify whether harm exists and then give that harm whatever weight the decision-maker chooses. Parliament intended the desirability of preserving the setting of listed buildings to be given considerable importance and weight in the balancing exercise.
That is a qualification to the usual planning-law principle that the weight to be given to a material consideration is generally a matter of planning judgment.
Less than substantial harm is not a less important objection
The Inspector had found the heritage harm to be less than substantial. The Court of Appeal said that did not mean the statutory duty disappeared or that the harm could simply be treated as a less than substantial objection.
The degree of harm will plainly affect the balance, but the decision-maker must still give the statutory objective of preservation the weight required by section 66(1). In Barnwell Manor the Inspector expressly gave significant weight to renewable-energy benefits but did not acknowledge the equivalent statutory need to give considerable weight to preserving listed-building settings.
The contribution made by setting must be understood
The case was not only about the weight given to heritage harm. The Inspector also failed properly to assess how the undeveloped rural setting contributed to the significance of Lyveden New Bield.
The heritage case was that the building and historic landscape had been designed to dominate and be experienced within that rural setting. It was not enough simply to ask whether a visitor could tell that modern wind turbines were separate from the historic asset.
The court stressed that the contribution made by setting to significance can extend beyond whether the public can physically access or understand the setting.
The reasonable observer test was not enough
The Inspector had repeatedly relied on the idea that a reasonable observer would recognise the turbines as a modern addition and would not confuse them with the historic landscape or buildings.
The Court of Appeal held that this did not properly apply the heritage policy. If that approach were decisive, an obviously modern and large intervention could perversely appear less harmful simply because nobody could mistake it for part of the historic asset.
Why Barnwell Manor still matters
The national policy framework has changed since 2014, but the statutory duty in section 66(1) remains. Barnwell Manor continues to be a central authority when a planning proposal would harm the setting of a listed building.
The case should not be read as saying that any harm to a listed building or its setting automatically requires refusal. The planning balance still has to be carried out. What Barnwell Manor requires is that the statutory importance of preservation is properly reflected in that balance.
Read the full Barnwell Manor judgment
The approved Court of Appeal judgment is held in the Planning Geek case law library. Gold Members can open the protected PDF below. If you are not signed in with Gold access, the button will take you to the appropriate membership option.
Related Planning Geek guidance
Start with our guide to listed buildings. We also explain how planners assess heritage significance and harm and the separate question of the setting of a heritage asset.
Barnwell Manor Case Law Page Updated: 9th September 2026