Land and Buildings at NGR 306361 116702 Moor Farm Westleigh Devon

1. 1.Insufficient information has been provided to establish that the existing agricultural building, shown as Barn B on the Existing Block Plan (drawing number 180825/04), is lawful due to the presence of two lean-to extensions to the originally approved agricultural barn under application reference 07/01429/PNAG. In addition, it has not been demonstrated that the lean-to extension to the east elevation of this agricultural building formed part of the established agricultural holding on 24th July 2023. Therefore, the proposed development is contrary to Article 3 (5) (a) and Paragraph Q.1 (a) (i) of Schedule 2, Part 3, Class Q of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended), and as such the proposal does not constitute permitted development.
2. 2.Based on the submitted information, the Local Planning Authority is not satisfied that it has been demonstrated that the Barn A and Barn B can be converted without significant new building operations. The application proposes to remove the entire three existing walls and roof covering from both barns and install new timber clad walls on four elevations and a new roof covering on each barn. It is therefore the opinion of the Local Planning Authority, that based on evidence available at the time, the works taken cumulatively would result in little of the external structure remaining unaltered. On this basis, it is considered that it has not been demonstrated that the required works would be reasonably necessary and fall within the scope of permitted development so as to comply with Paragraph Q.1 (j) (i) of RPPNCZ Schedule 2, Part 3, Class Q of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended), and as such the proposal does not constitute permitted development.
3. 3.The proposed development consists of the conversion of two agricultural buildings into four dwelling houses and the demolition of two remaining agricultural sheds on the site. Such demolition would exceed the building operations reasonably necessary for the two buildings to be converted to, and function as dwellinghouses. The development therefore fails to comply with limitations of Paragraph Q.1 (j) (ii) of Schedule 2, Part 3, Class Q of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended), and as such it is not permitted development.
4. 4.In the opinion of the Local Planning Authority, the existing buildings do not have a suitable existing access to the public highway to facilitate access by private car and other vehicles, including emergency services, or for foot passengers. The buildings are located approximately 75 metres from a point of access onto a private lane, where due to the lack of formally fixed surface track to the buildings, the proposed dwelling houses would not be served by adequate and suitable access for residential use. In addition, the access to the public highway from the field gateway is via a narrow, unlit and mainly unmade private lane, circa 180 metres in length, which has no passing places or footpath and lacks forward visibility in at least two points. The development therefore fails to comply with Paragraph Q.1 (p) of Schedule 2, Part 3, Class Q of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended), and as such it is not permitted development.
5. 5.The proposed development consists of the demolition of two agricultural buildings, as shown on the Existing Block Plan (drawing number 180825/04), to provide appropriate curtilage space for the proposed dwellings and rationalise the layout of the site. Such area of land immediately beside or around the building, closely associated with and serving their purposes, defined as curtilage, and included in the red line on the Site Location Plan (drawing number LES/408/26/A/SLP) and the Proposed Floor Plans (drawing number 180825/05), is substantially larger than the area of land occupied by the two buildings proposed to change use to four dwellinghouses. Therefore, the proposed development is contrary to limitations of Class Q (a) of Part 3 to Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended).
6. 6.In the opinion of the Local Planning Authority, the existing access to the site in a form of a narrow private lane, and unmade/unsurfaced field track of a total length of circa 255 metres is unsuitable for residential purposes. It is therefore concluded that the proposed conversion of two barns to form four dwelling houses would result in unacceptable impacts upon the safety and living conditions of existing residents and future occupiers of the proposed dwellings. In addition, the single width of the private lane, the lack of passing places, footway or adequate lighting would lead to a further conflict between the public highway and track users due to reversing vehicles within the access lane. This conflict could potentially be exacerbated by traffic generated by deliveries, visitors and emergency vehicles entering the application site. Accordingly, the development would have an unacceptable and detrimental impact on public safety. On this basis, the siting of the buildings without suitable means of access to which the proposal applies therefore makes it impractical and undesirable for them to change from an agricultural to a residential use (Class C3 of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) ), since the proposal would conflict with the condition set out at paragraph Q.2 (1) (e) of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended). As such, prior approval should be refused.

From the council's decision notice.

Application type

PN Change of Use

Scale / size

Small

Parish

Burlescombe 06

Date validated

16 January 2026

Consultation expiry

9 February 2026

Consultation start

26 January 2026

Neighbour consultation end

9 February 2026

Last date for comments

18 February 2026

Target decision date

13 March 2026

Permission expires

12 March 2029

Agent address

Greenslade Taylor Hunt 8 Erme Court Leonards Road Ivybridge PL21 0SZ

Statutory period

56 days

Planning Portal ID

PP-14605719

Documents

29

Constraints

10