Willoughby Almshouses: campaign update

Following a successful legal challenge by the SPAB, Broxtowe Council has agreed that listed building consent for an insensitive redevelopment scheme to Willoughby Almshouses was invalid.  

Our legal challenge was based on Broxtowe Council’s failure to notify us of an application for listed building consent that would irrevocably harm these unique buildings, despite a legal duty to do so. 

The council’s acknowledgement is promising, but we don't yet know that these Grade II* listed buildings are safe from harm. We now await final confirmation from the courts that this unlawful listed building consent has been withdrawn. 

As part of our campaigning work, we also asked concerned members of the public to write to the council. Many of you helped to spread the word on social media too, showing how much the public cares about our built heritage. Thank you to all of you who joined the campaign. 

Image: Gavin Gillespie 

Protecting housing and heritage 

Described in Pevsner’s Buildings of England as a ‘delicious group’, these Grade II* listed almshouses were built in 1685 as smaller homes for individuals – something we still urgently need today. 

Yet the developers’ proposed scheme would reduce the seven homes to four large houses through internal demolition work and rear extensions that would leave them almost unrecognisable.  

Having been left derelict for many years, our hope is that once these damaging plans are dropped, the almshouses can be sympathetically repaired and brought back into use, in a way that protects their historical character and benefits the local community. 

What’s next? 

We now await final confirmation that the unlawful listed building consent has been withdrawn.  

We will welcome the opportunity to work with the applicant and Broxtowe Council to find a sensitive scheme to repair these unique almshouses and bring them back into use for the community. 

We hope this case will also serve as an important reminder to all local authorities that they must notify the SPAB and other National Amenity Societies of any planning application that involves total or partial demolition of a listed building – in accordance with the 1990 Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act. 

Thank you to everyone who has played a part in the campaign to date. Be sure to sign up to our monthly enewsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates on future campaign work.  

Image credit: Gavin Gillespie.