Planning permission in World Heritage Site
We’re delighted to share a great success for us: a development that has been granted planning permission in a World Heritage Site setting.
12 new homes gain planning permission in World Heritage Site
At a former farm near Avebury, we recently secured planning permission for the demolition and conversion of a group of farm buildings to build 12 new homes, along with a community building and employment building. We had previously gained planning permission in 2015 for 10 dwellings, however it was found that the scheme would be more viable with two additional homes, achieved by subdivision of one of the large agricultural buildings.
The site is in a sensitive location, being within a small village in the setting of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a listed building and a scheduled monument, and within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). As such, the cues taken from local design and conservation guidance was extensive.
We argued that the proposal represented the viable redevelopment of a prominent local derelict site for much needed housing, community and employment uses, and Wiltshire Council agreed that, although there was some conflict with policy, a number of buildings proposed for demolition are currently detracting from the quality of the AONB and the setting of the nearby listed church. The provision of community facilities was also a consideration weighing in favour of the proposal, and planning permission was duly granted.
Due to the scale of the proposals and, particularly, the sensitivity of the site, securing planning permission on this project has been a long and arduous process, however through tireless perseverance and proactive engagement with the planning process, our client’s goals have been achieved.
For more information on planning permission in World Heritage Sites, visit Historic England.
More Planning Permissions
Grade II Listed Building internal alterations
Another of our recent successes involves gaining listed building consent for a number of internal works and replacements of windows to a Grade II listed building at a village outside Warwick. The alterations will result in an improvement to the amenity of future occupants of the house, and respect the importance of the historic asset. By co-ordinating the appropriate surveys, we were able to secure the listed building consent for our clients.
Garden Studio close to Ridgeway National Trail
We have secured planning permission for a single storey extension to a house, along with a new garden studio in the north of West Berkshire. The site sits within a Conservation Area and an AONB, and is positioned with a degree of prominence in an undulating hilly area close to the Ridgeway National Trail. The visual intrusiveness of the scheme was therefore a key consideration, however we were able to situate the new outbuilding inconspicuously, and ensure that the extension is in keeping with a building that has already been extended on multiple occasions and will not increase its intrusion on the surrounding landscape.
