The next phase of regeneration of the Carriageworks gets underway, and the history of a gatehouse at Wroughton airfield has been thoroughly investigated in planning this week.

Railway Village: Swindon Borough Council will be allowed to take the next step in the restoration and regeneration of the old GWR Carriage Works lining the north side of London Street in the town centre.

Thus far, parts of the Victorian works have been converted into the Workshed, a business facility for small and new businesses particularly working in the digital sphere, the Royal Agricultural University’s Cultural Heritage Institute, and the Innovation Centre for Applied Sustainable Technologies, a joint venture between Bath and Oxford Universities.

Now the council has been given the go-ahead by its own planning department to carry out survey works on the West Shed, past the pedestrian underpass and closer to the Mechanics’ Institute so it can start on the next phase of regeneration.

The application says: “The surveys seek to determine the make-up of the existing building fabric and its condition. The applicant is considering future regeneration of these units. As part of the future regeneration the intention is to maximise retention of historic fabric.

North Star: New College Swindon has been given permission for an illuminated sign to go on the roundabout leading to its Swindon College campus.

The lit sign will say New College Swindon and feature the college’s blue branding. It will replace the existing fabric on wood sign.

Wroughton: The history of a pre-war airfield gatehouse has been extensively documented by the Science Museum. The institution has permission to knock down the 1930s-built gatehouse at its Red Barn site on Wroughton Airfield and replace it with a purpose-built ‘welcome building’.

As part of that permission, one of the conditions was a traffic management plan, and the other was the recording of the history of the gatehouse. Both the traffic plan and report into the buildings’ history have been submitted to the council for approval.

Wanborough: A proposal made by a Mr Ed Smith to build two houses on green land south of the Marsh in Wanborough has been withdrawn.

Ward member Councillor Gary Sumner had already asked the proposal to be ‘called in’ to the planning committee and a number of neighbours had written to object to the plan to build two four-bedroomed houses on the plot which is in the non-coalescence zone designed to keep the village separate from encroachment by Swindon proper.

Extensions: Applications have been lodged with the borough council for permission to build extensions to houses, or outbuildings, or to convert garages and lofts to habitable rooms at: 10 Radley Close, Nythe; 8 Rhine Close, Rushey Platt; 8 Fieldfare, Covingham; 12 Larchmore Close, Haydon Wick; 11 Chase Wood, Peatmoor; 9 Rodway, Wanborough; 116 High Street, Blunsdon (a retrospective application); 36 Gold View Rushey Platt; 14 Gairlock Close, Sparcells; and  32 Cricklade Road, Gorse Hill.

Such an application has been approved for 47 Bath Road, Old Town.

An application to build a single-storey rear extension and put in a rear dormer window at 5 Lethbridge Road, Old Town has been withdrawn.

The proposal by Mr T O’Sullivan for a single-storey annex to 10 Limes Avenue in Pinehurst has been refused the certificate of lawfulness he sought.

Because the annex would contain a living area, bedroom and lavatory/bathroom it is deemed is integral to use of the main building and not a purpose incidental to the use of the main house, and therefore falls foul of the rules on certificates of lawfulness.

The refusal does not prevent a full application for planning consent.