We were approached to advise on the planning issues raised by an existing wallpaper and fabric design business wanting to move into an agricultural barn in a rural location in Wiltshire. The option of a Class R permitted development application was first considered but that would only have dealt with the change of use of the barn and subsequent external physical alterations would require their own full planning application. As can be seen from the photograph of the barn as existing below, a lot of external changes were needed to create the final building we wanted, as shown in the above drawing extract.
RCC therefore recommend preparing and submitting a full planning application for the change of use and physical alterations at the same time and using the Class R option as a fall back to support the principle of the proposal. In considering the application the council advised that this was a complicated issue and one that required further consideration with colleagues. We were therefore extremely please when the council came back and advised that they fully accepted the case put forward by RCC and full planning permission was forthcoming without too much delay.
