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Fir Tree Lodge 17 Highworth Road Swindon SN3 4QL

S/25/1291Full Planning ApplicationRefused
Full

Refused on 8 December 2025

Council decision: Permission RefusedDelegated (officer decision)1 reason for refusal

Site boundary (council red line)

Proposal

Change of use from Guest House / Hotel (Class C1) to an 11 bedroom House in Multiple Occupancy, and conversion of rear detached bedroom block to a self-contained dwelling (Class C3).

Received
10 October 2025
Decision level
Delegated (officer decision)
Ward
St Margaret And South Marston
Agent
Shawn Hindon Architectual Design
  1. Received10 Oct
  2. Validated13 Oct
  3. Consult.7 Nov
  4. Target4 Dec
  5. Decided8 Dec

Decided in 56 days (council typically 49)

About this application

This is a full planning application for a change of use at Fir Tree Lodge 17 Highworth Road Swindon SN3 4QL. Swindon has handled 1,789 applications of this type. This one was decided in 59 days, 10 days longer than Swindon's typical decision time. There has been 1 other application at this address. In the past year there have been 63 applications across St Margaret And South Marston. We hold 747 applications in total for the SN3 postcode area.

93% of full applications at Swindon Borough Council were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 7 weeks (median).

Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.Planning something similar? See what gets approved on your street

Why it was refused

  1. It is considered that the proposed self-contained dwelling (Class C3), as a result of its siting and relationship with the frontage property, would represent an ad hoc and uncharacteristic layout and form of development, which is contrary to the provisions set out in the NPPF (2024) and policy DE1 of the Swindon Local Plan 2026.

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode
SN3 4QL
Application type
Full Planning Application
Scale / size
Small
Parish
Stratton St Margaret

Planning application dates

Date validated
13 October 2025
Consultation expiry
7 November 2025
Consultation start
17 October 2025
Consultation end
7 November 2025
Neighbour consultation start
17 October 2025
Neighbour consultation end
7 November 2025
Last date for comments
7 November 2025
Target decision date
4 December 2025

Applicant and agent

Agent
Shawn Hindon Architectual Design
Agent address
Walnut View 84A Pavenhill Purton Swindon SN5 4DA

Planning decision

Statutory period
52 days

Additional information

Documents
12
Constraints
4

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.

  • Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)

Not published by this council, so not checked: Article 4 directions and tree preservation orders. Ask the council if these matter.

Also checked, none recorded (22)

flood storage areas, conservation areas, listed buildings, green belt, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, National Landscapes, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.

A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.

Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences

Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.

© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved. Flood Map for Planning, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Swindon

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