The site is a former agricultural barn (used for storage of agricultural equipment) and an associated area of agricultural cropping land.

The Brief

The clients brief was to convert an old agricultural barn into a purpose-built, 2-storey spacious family home for their young (and growing) family. The house needed to be functional include a hydropool for one of their children, who has learning disabilities.

Our Solution

We had previously achieved planning permission under Class Q of the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) to convert the barn into 2x 3-bedroom dwellings for a different client. This consent was still extant and could be enacted when our clients purchased the site

As our clients wanted to ensure that they had a safe fallback option ‘in the bag’, we first applied to convert the existing barn to a family dwelling, again under Class Q of the GPDO. This was approved within the standard 56 day timeframe with no pushback from the Council.

During the next stage we worked with the clients’ architect to propose a purpose-built dwelling that would replace the barn after its demolition. We also ensured that the necessary ecological reports were instructed for inclusion within the upcoming submission.

We prepared a planning statement, which sets out the arguments in favour of the development and explained how the proposals accorded with both local and national planning policies.

After submission of the application, we, unfortunately, received objections from some neighbours and from the Conservation Officer. However, by communicating directly with the Case Officer, we were able to convince him that the objections raised were not valid and provided insufficient grounds to warrant refusing the application.

Due to the ongoing nitrate issue affecting development in the Solent catchment area, the applicants were advised that the development must be ‘nitrate neutral’. We advised our clients on how this could be achieved by taking agricultural land within their ownership adjacent to the site out of active agricultural use and planting it with trees. We submitted a separate application for advice to Natural England and when positive feedback was received we submitted this to Wiltshire’s ecologists who signed this off.

The application was approved at local authority level by the Case Officer without having to go to the planning committee, despite the objections from local residents.

Project Success

Our clients were delighted to receive full permission to build a home that would perfectly meet the needs of their family and look beautiful in a rural setting.

If you are looking to submit a Class Q Fallback application for an agricultural barn, please get in touch with one of our planning experts today. We will be happy to assist you through the process and ensure you get a result that works for you.