Heating

The church's oil-fired heating boiler, installed 35 years previously, had come to the end of its working life and spare parts were no longer available. The churchwardens sought permission to replace the boiler with a new gas boiler. The Diocesan Advisory Committee expressed its disappointment that the church had not opted for a more environmentally friendly heating system. The Chancellor granted a faculty, being satisfied that the petitioners had considered the Church of England's 'Net Zero Roadmap' and the Church Building Council's guidance, and that the petitioners had also considered several alternative options, which had been discounted for various reasons, including costs, aesthetic considerations, and the potential impact of the different proposed solutions on the fabric and special character of the Grade I listed building. The Chancellor made it a condition of the faculty (inter alia) that so far as was practicable, gas supplied under a green tariff was to be used for the new system.

The proposed works to the church comprised electrical rewiring and new lighting; the installation of an audio-visual system; and a new heating system. The Diocesan Advisory Committee had some concerns about the proposal to install roof-mounted horizontal low temperature hot water radiant panel heaters. The Chancellor decided that the petitioners had shown a convincing argument for each part of the scheme and he granted a faculty.

The petitioners wished urgently to install in the church a new gas boiler, to replace the existing 35 years old boiler (which had been condemned) and to make improvements to the heating system and boiler room. The Diocesan Advisory Committee did not approve the proposal. It took the view that the petitioners had not fully considered the alternatives to using fossil fuel. The Deputy Chancellor granted a faculty, being satisfied that the petitioners had in fact considered all the available alternative heating systems, and that the system proposed was the only viable option that the church could afford. The Faculty was to be subject to a condition that the church either switched to a green gas tariff or entered into a separate arrangement with a carbon off-setting scheme to offset the carbon emissions from all non-renewable gas used.

The Consistory Court of the Diocese of Winchester reviewed a retrospective application for a faculty to approve the installation of two gas boilers at Christ Church, Chineham. The church, a modern community hub, had experienced failure of its old boilers, leading the Petitioners to replace them without prior approval, believing the work was urgent. The court criticized their decision as a clear breach of faculty law, calling it "naïve." A key issue was the Petitioners' failure to consider the Church of England’s Net Zero Guidance. Despite an energy audit suggesting air source heat pumps (ASHPs) as a sustainable alternative, the Petitioners dismissed this advice without detailed analysis, opting for gas boilers driven by cost and convenience. They failed to obtain meaningful quotes for greener options until after the court’s intervention. Although the court noted inconsistent communication from the DAC, it held the Petitioners responsible for ensuring compliance. While the court ruled that a faculty would not have been granted if properly sought, it allowed the boilers to remain temporarily due to the practical difficulty of removing them before winter. A faculty was granted for three years, with the condition that the church offset carbon emissions and explore sustainable heating options.

The petitioners sought permission to replace a gas fired cabinet heater in the church with a new condensing gas heater. The Parochial Church Council had looked carefully at the alternative options. Heat pumps were not viable. It would be a possible alternative to install electric heaters, but these would be very expensive to install, less energy efficient, unsightly and expensive to run. The Diocesan Advisory Committee had certified that the petitioners have considered the Church of England’s net zero guidance, and they recommended the proposals. The Chancellor granted a faculty, without imposing a condition regarding carbon offsetting.

The petitioners wished to replace the church’s condemned wall-mounted heaters with a new boiler and wet system with convector heaters. They also sought retrospective permission for the repair of a vandalised stained-glass window in the south aisle. There were two objections in relation to the heating, of which one was subsequently withdrawn. The remaining objection was on several grounds, including: “I can see no reason why the existing heaters cannot be replaced like for like with a more modern model of the heaters in place in the church, especially as the proposed new wet system still relies on gas, a fossil fuel, so is no more sustainable and not carbon neutral.” The Diocesan Advisory Committee took the view that the explanation provided of how, in formulating the proposal, the Church had had due regard to the net zero guidance issued by the Church Buildings Council was adequate. The Deputy Chancellor granted a faculty, subject to information being provided by the end of January 2025 as to how the cost of the heating works would be funded.

An application was made for a faculty for the replacement of the existing convection gas heaters with nine new convection gas heaters. The parish had obtained a quotation in the sum of £33,795.60. Of concern to the Chancellor was that the parish had already paid a deposit of £17,000 to the contractor before applying for a faculty, and when the application was made it was clear that the parish had not had “due regard” to the Church of England’s Net Zero policy by considering other options which did not involve replacing one fossil fuel system with another. The Chancellor required the petitioners to look at other options, which they did. The Chancellor, whilst deprecating the way things had been done, acknowledged that to reject the proposals would cause undue further financial problems for the church and a delay in providing a new heating system. He therefore granted a faculty, subject to conditions requiring the parish to enter into a green gas tariff or a separate arrangement with a carbon offsetting scheme and to obtain professional advice about how to make a meaningful contribution to Net Zero.

The proposals included an accessible toilet within the west tower, removal of the pews, new stone flooring and a new heating system including underfloor heating and perimeter radiators heated by a replacement gas boiler. There was opposition from the statutory consultees. The Chancellor had to consider whether the petitioners, as required by the Faculty Jurisdiction Rules 2015, had given 'due regard' to the net zero guidance on reducing carbon emissions issued by the Church Buildings Council. The Chancellor granted a faculty, being satisfied that the petitioners, through their heating consultant, had considered all alternative sources of heating and that "at the present time, a replacement gas boiler is the only viable and affordable heating option which will meet all the relevant needs and aspirations of the church".

The parish wished to replace the existing gas boiler with a new, more energy-efficient gas boiler. In 2017, the archdeacon had given notice of approval without faculty under List B1 of the faculty rules. For various reasons (including the Covid lockdowns), the work was delayed. In 2022, the rules had been changed to make it a requirement that there should be an application for a faculty for a replacement boiler using a fossil fuel supply. Since then the parish, for reasons of pastoral necessity, had carried out the replacement, believing that they could rely on the archdeacon's notice in 2017. The question was, had the archdeacon's notice still been valid following the change in the rules? The Chancellor determined that he was not in a position to determine the question but, having sympathy for the parish's "pastoral and pragmatic" action, suggested that the matter should not be pursued any further, whilst providing lessons for the future.

Replacement of gas heating system with Hershel Halo Chandeliers, incorporating electric infra-red heating and up/down lighting; church, sometimes known as St Stephen’s, listed grade II*; significance of nave arch and 13^th century nave arcade noted; existing gas heated warm air system now inefficient and unreliable; written objections considered including cost, concerns over effectiveness of proposed system; potential harm to structure of church; impact on health and visual impact; no objections from statutory consultees; comments from Church Buildings Council considered; cost a matter for the PCC, subject to observation that a faculty should not issue if the PCC has no reasonable prospect of raising the necessary costs; inability to run the proposed system at full output without improved mains supply noted; system designed to avoid ‘cold spots’ by overlapping heated areas; effect on structure of the church considered and addressed by a requirement to monitor impact over the next 5 years; no evidence adduced of harm to health; visual impact on appearance of nave considered in the light of the Duffield tests (Re St Alkmund, Duffield [2013] Fam 158); new heating system would not change the appearance of the nave so as to cause harm to the significance of the church as a building of special architectural or historic interest; net zero goals considered and reflected in proposal; faculty granted subject to conditions.