We were approached to advise on the options for commercial uses at this Wiltshire farm and once we had understood what was required we suggested that we could use Class R permitted development rights (PDR) to convert up to 500m2 of floorspace so full planning permission wasn't required. PDR does however still require you to go through a prior approval process and that isn't always straightforward (see earlier news item where RCC had to pursue a planning appeal due to a council refusing a PDR application). RCC therefore provided a detailed submission to the council setting out a robust case in support of the PDR application and we were delighted when consent was received within the required timescale.
Our clients did however also have a couple of buildings already in commercial use and as such we had to prepare and submit a second application (a full application this time) for retrospective planning permission. That permission has also now come through so our clients now have all the permissions in place for there group of commercial buildings on their farm.
