This was an interesting proposal as the building had previously been in the same ownership as a listed mill on the other side of the road and had until recently been used for ancillary uses linked to the mill. There was also a historic planning permission from many years ago to extend the stable building but again for ancillary use. That permission was started but just with limited work having taken place. The photograph below shows the building as it exists today.
RCC had previously worked for the mill owner on an extension to the mill building and on an outbuilding on that side of the road. When the stable building and associated land was sold the new owner asked RCC to work on the proposal to convert the building to residential use but for that proposal to include a sizeable extension which can be seen in the image below.
We have extensive experience of attaining planning permission for the conversion of redundant buildings in the countryside in Wiltshire where the local planning policy is very different to equivalent policies in other council areas. As normal we had to show that residential use was the only viable option for the building but we also had to make the case as to why the proposed extension was acceptable as the Wiltshire policy does not normally allow for this. In addition the issues of heritage impact and flood risk had to be carefully considered and presented to the council.
Overall it was quite a team effort but the result will be a very interesting and striking dwelling.
