The Court upheld an Interim Heritage Order over six early twentieth century workers' cottages, finding the buildings met the threshold for local heritage significance under criterion (c) (aesthetic/creative/technical achievement) despite not meeting criteria (a) (historic), (f) (rarity), or (g) (representative). Where detailed expert reports had been prepared and no further inquiry was likely to produce materially different evidence, the Court treated its role as determining whether the item is of local heritage significance rather than merely whether it might be found so on further investigation. The Court preferred evidence that cumulative external changes including painted brickwork and front fences had not irreversibly degraded the integrity of the buildings, accepting that such changes were reversible and that the original form and fenestration remained legible.
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