State of the Art Equestrian Facility in Wiltshire

The creation of a new equestrian facility including stables, horse walker, arenas, canter track and polo field in the grounds of a listed building.

The Brief

In addition to various alterations to their listed building, our clients sought to create a private state of the art equestrian facility within the grounds.

As keen polo players, the brief was for the new stables to accommodate 20 horses, with accommodation included for two grooms. In addition to the stables, a large covered horse walker, outdoor and indoor arenas, canter track and polo field were to be provided.

Our Solution

Whilst the Wiltshire Core Strategy makes no specific mention of equestrian development, we made the case that this should be considered acceptable in a rural location and highlighted that the National Planning Policy Framework states that planning decisions should support sustainable rural leisure developments.

We further provided a set of precedent examples of other similar developments approved recently to support our case.