Planning Expertise

Providing strategic planning consultancy advice to rural estates

• Providing planning consultancy services to various rural estates including Badminton, Tusmore Park, Glympton Park, Campden House, Batsford, Daylesford, Flaxley, Manton, Netherley, Kiftsgate Court, Netherwood, Northwick, Brinsop Court, Froyle, Soundborough Farm, Kentchurch Court and Wormington Grange

Securing planning permission for large scale residential developments in villages and beyond

• Redevelopment of the Gordon Russell site in Broadway, Worcestershire for a mix of uses including 56 dwellings, 23 sheltered housing units, restaurant, food store, museum, tourist information centre and parish meeting room. Winner of CABE Building for Life Gold Standard 2007
• Redevelopment of the Bentham Works site in Shurdington, Cheltenham, a Class B2 site in the Green Belt just to the south of Cheltenham, for a village style residential development of 49 dwellings
• Outline permission for up to 30 new dwellings in Newent, Gloucestershire
• Successful appeal for up to 27 dwellings on a cleared site next to a hospital, food store, offices and existing housing within the urban area of Cheltenham  

Securing planning permission for smaller scale residential developments including infills and edge of settlement proposals 

• Redevelopment of a former Post Office depot in Cheltenham for a mix of residential and commercial uses
• Planning permission obtained for the rebuilding of four barn conversions in the Gloucestershire Green Belt following the dismantling of each building by the developer
• Conversion of a multi-yard farmstead into six new dwellings on the outskirts of Alderton, Wiltshire
• Change of use and rebuilding of a doctors’ surgery in Tewkesbury to create four new dwellings

Securing planning permission for the creation of new dwellings

• Obtained permission for a substantial Cotswold farmhouse in Evenlode, Gloucestershire following a successful Class Q application
• Obtained permission for a detached dwelling on the edge of Dorstone, rural Herefordshire
• Creation of a new dwelling with the retention of the historic part of a previous dwelling on a site just outside Chipping Campden
• Obtained permission for a detached contemporary dwelling outside Ombersley, Worcestershire
• Planning permission granted for new dwellings on the Crucis Park Estate on the edge of Ampney Crucis, Cirencester
• Further substantial new dwellings in locations including Henley-on-Thames, Barnet and Leatherhead

Securing planning permission under Paragraph 80 for new dwellings of exceptional quality

• Significant new dwelling and the conversion of outbuildings to ancillary uses in Warmington, Northamptonshire
• Currently working on the creation of a new dwelling in rural Mathon, Worcestershire in the Malvern Hills AONB

Securing planning permission for replacement dwellings

• In excess of 40 individual properties. Primarily on rural estates or in rural locations and usually incorporating large scale additional floor space 

Securing planning permission for the conversion of rural buildings to residential use

• Conversion of traditional Herefordshire farmstead to 10 individual dwellings, six employment spaces and garaging
• Conversion of listed farm buildings in Ilchester, Yeovil to seven individual dwellings
• Pursuing permission for three new dwellings in a converted modern barn along with three holiday let units in traditional buildings on a former farmstead in rural Herefordshire 

Securing planning permission for the conversion/redevelopment of rural buildings to commercial/leisure uses

• Conversion of a curtilage listed farm complex in the northern Cotswolds to a shooting lodge and overnight accommodation 
• Conversion of stables into self-catering holiday accommodation in Russells Water, South Oxfordshire
• Conversion of agricultural buildings on the Netherwood Estate, north of Bromyard, to a restaurant, office and flexible commercial space
• Redevelopment of a farmstead for light industrial/office purposes near Blockley, North Cotswolds 
• Redevelopment of various sites in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to create four operational branches for a builders merchant 

Using Class Q permitted development rights to secure permission for the conversion of agricultural buildings to residential use

• Numerous examples in Herefordshire Council, Tewkesbury Borough Council, Forest of Dean District Council, Cheltenham Borough Council, Stroud District Council, Malvern Hills District Council, Cotswold District Council, Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council, East Hampshire District Council and Cherwell District Council
• Two instances of where 4-5 dwellings (up to circa 865 sq m of floor space) have been sanctioned on a single farmstead. One in rural Herefordshire and the other in North Warwickshire
• Notable examples of trading a Class Q permission for a new dwelling in Evenlode, Gloucestershire and Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire

Using Class R permitted development rights to secure permission for the conversion of agricultural buildings to flexible uses

• Development on the Tusmore Park Estate including the use of former chicken sheds for commercial purposes as a forerunner to an application for their replacement with a residential development
• Establishment of a hotel within a former cattle shed in Kingham, Oxfordshire

Using permitted development rights to secure permission for the conversion of commercial buildings to residential use 

• Creation of three dwellings from an existing office building and one dwelling from an adjacent storage building in rural Herefordshire
• Change of use of an existing office building to form four new dwellings in Kingham, Oxfordshire

Securing planning permission for wedding venues

• Development on the Brinsop Estate, Herefordshire, for a change of use of a Grade I moated manor house to an events/hospitality venue along with holiday let accommodation and a new 180-seater wedding barn
• Change of use of a rural retail centre to a wedding venue on the Northwick Estate on the outskirts of Chipping Campden
• Replacement of an Atcost agricultural building with an oak framed wedding barn on a site just to the north of Chipping Campden

Securing planning permission to create agricultural and rural workers’ dwellings

• Consent obtained for various agricultural and rural worker’s dwellings

Securing planning permission to enable commercial undertakings

• Provision of a new mixed-use office, retail and residential building in the heart of Cheltenham
• New vineyard, winery and associated residential accommodation in Russells Water, Oxfordshire
• 40,000 sq ft food store in Quedgeley, Gloucester for a major operator
• Retention of key manufacturing facilities following an appeal at a global furnishings manufacturer in Hatfield, Hertfordshire
• Replacement storage and office facility for an online supplier of tractor components 
• Extending the range of commercial activities within a building used as a wedding venue just to the south of Chipping Campden
• Redevelopment of a site and relocation of a temperature-controlled logistics company near Evesham, Worcestershire

Establishing the lawfulness of buildings and uses

• Achieved a positive certificate of lawfulness for the existing use of a former Class B8 building as a dwellinghouse in rural Warwickshire
• Achieved a positive certificate of lawfulness for the continued use of land adjacent to a dwelling as garden just outside Tetbury, Gloucestershire
• Achieved positive certificates of lawfulness for the occupation of a dwelling without complying with an occupancy condition in the north Cotswolds and just outside Cirencester

Using Prior Notification applications to secure planning permission to create new agricultural buildings

• Various Prior Notification applications for new agricultural buildings

Promotion of rural sites for residential development through development plan representations

• Representations made in connection with various plans including the Stroud District Local Plan, the Cotswold District Local Plan, the Herefordshire Core Strategy and the South Worcestershire Development Plan

Securing permissions for altering and extending significant heritage assets

• Redevelopment and reconfiguration of Wormington Grange, associated outbuildings and parkland (Grade II and II* listed buildings)
• Alteration and change of use of Brinsop Court, Herefordshire (Grade I listed building)
• Provision of a substantial new music room at Eldersfield Court (Grade II listed building)