News

Balancing Heritage and Sustainability: Retrofitting Homes in Queen’s Park

At a time when financial pressures and the climate emergency are at the forefront of everyone’s minds, many residents are seeking ways to reduce their energy usage and cut down on bills.

From installing better insulation to upgrading to double glazing, energy efficiency improvements are becoming increasingly essential for householders.

Recognising this, Queen’s Park Community Council (QPCC) is setting up a dedicated working group to tackle these challenges in the Avenues. This group will explore how to balance the urgent need for energy efficiency with preserving the unique character and charm of the Queen’s Park Conservation Area.

The group will look into practical, real-life examples of retrofitting, working closely with Westminster City Council (WCC) to create a place-based energy efficiency retrofitting guide tailored specifically to the Queen’s Park Estate. This guide will serve as a practical handbook for residents, offering advice and solutions on how to make their homes more energy-efficient and healthy while respecting the area’s heritage. As part of this, we recently supported the WCC Retrofit team as they conducted a retrofit survey of the community – you can follow updates from this consultation here: http://queensparklocaldevelopmentorder.commonplace.is/.

The WCC Retrofit team have already developed some general guides/how-to handbooks for different retrofit options – such as making windows more energy efficient, solar, and air-source heat pumps. You can find these here: https://bit.ly/wcc-retrofit-guides

One of the first issues the group will address is finding answers to questions raised by residents. For example, how can paint be safely removed from decorative brickwork on the front of cottages without causing damage?

If you’re interested in joining the Working group, have suggestions or advice, or can help answer some of these pressing questions, we’d love to hear from you.

Please email the Coordinator at planning@queensparkcommunitycouncil.gov.uk. Together, we can find solutions that work for the community and the planet.

A profile picture of Queen's Park Community Council Councillor Mr John McArdle. He's swearing a paisley shirt and sun glasses and is standing in front of the glass doors of the Beethoven Community Centre.By John McArdle, QPCC Councillor & Coordinator of the QPCC Planning Working Group