The demolition of community buildings in Nythe can go ahead - even though the local parish council didn’t like the plan - while flats can become one large house. Those are among the decisions made by Swindon Borough Council's planning department this week.

TOWN CENTRE: The rear of a shop in Market Street could become a flat if the plans of developer Mr Frost are approved.

He has asked to be able to convert the small two-bed apartment upstairs into a one-bed flat with a larger living area, and convert the building at number 11 consisting of offices behind the main shopfront into another one-bed float, keeping just a small shop unit giving on to the street.

NYTHE: Swindon Borough Council has been given permission by its own planning department to knock down the disused buildings at Nythe Community Centre in The Drive (pictured).

The council’s application for the demolition said: “The buildings are currently vacant and disused since October 2023.

“The single Pratten hut was used as a small community centre with a communal space and toilets but has not been in use for over two years due to the poor condition of the roof. The larger Pratten building was used as a youth and  community centre and was vacated in 2023 due to its overall poor condition and state of repair. 

“All of the buildings are now life expired and beyond economic repair to bring them up to modern standards hence the decision to demolish them before they deteriorate any further and become  health and safety risk.”

The existing tarmac car parking areas, hardstands, grassed areas, trees and hedges will remain.

BROADGREEN:  Developer Gian Singh Johal has lodged proposals to convert the three-bed house at 188 County Road into two flats.  If approved the ground floor would feature a one-bed flat, and kitchenette and dining/living room, and a similar arrangement upstairs with two bedrooms.

HIGHWORTH: A barn in the grounds of Starveal Cottage in Coleshill Road can be partially demolished, with the rest of the building converted into a house.

Planners have approved the plans of Mr and Mrs Mace Benson to create the two-bed house which will sit behind the existing cottage. The ground floor would hold an en suite bedroom, and separate kitchen, dining and living rooms, and one en suite bedroom on the second floor.

Giving permission, council officers wrote: “The proposals utilising the existing footprint with a courtyard layout are of a design, size and scale that is considered appropriate for this countryside location. The appearance retains a pattern form, vernacular and mass characteristic of a farmstead.”

EASTCOTT:  A plan put forward by Suls Real Estate Group to turn two flats at 70 Eastcott Hill into one house has been approved. The reconversion of the building will see it have seven bedrooms.

Originally the plan was to use the newly converted house as a seven-bed HMO – but objections from highways officers and ward councillors, especially over parking mean the applicant revised that and asked for permission just to make the building a single dwelling.

HANNINGTON: A plan to build a log cabin in the grounds of a house for use by the family of the householder has been turned down. A certificate of permitted development was requested to put the cabin in the grounds of Boxhedge Farm in Hannington Lane.

The application said the building would be used as a home by the daughter of the householder and her family.

According to council planners that use meant that the plans fell outside of permitted development rules because it is ‘not incidental to enjoyment of the dwelling”.

That does not necessarily preclude a full application for consent being successful.        

NORTH STAR: Swindon New College has been given the go-ahead to knock down the two-storey extension to the Lyre Building at its North Star campus.