Retrospective applications are a theme this week – where applicants ask for permission for the work that has already been done. This is legal, but potentially risky if the permission is not granted.

Liden: Retrospective permission has been granted to real estate company SCH UK Ltd, based in Royal Wotton Bassett, to regularise the use of 58 Tryon Close as a seven-bedroom HMO.

The house has been used as an HMO for seven residents since 2014,  but the change in use of the building from a dental clinic had not been applied for or consented to.

Highworth: A couple of what were mobile homes allowed as residences at High View, Faringdon Road near Highworth can remain permanent.

Planners have agreed to Peter Goodwins’ application to make the structures permanent residences.

Highworth Town Council objected because originally the siting of the chalet-mobile homes was allowed on appeal because there was a lack of sites for travellers, and making the site a permanent residence would diminish traveller provision.

But borough council planners said: “The two former chalet mobile homes on the land now constitute buildings as of 2018.  

The change of use to residential has on the balance of probability continued to be uninterrupted for a period in excess of four years from 2018 and is not subject to enforcement.

Hodson: A proposal by the executors of the estate of Robert Langton had proposed to knock down the small bungalow and single on a larger plot of land on Hodson Lane and replace it with a much more substantial two-storey five-bedroom executive house and double garage.

That proposal has been refused by council planners who said: “The proposal represents substantially larger residential development and an incremental spread of built form into the open countryside and the loss of hedgerow and trees, causing visual harm to the landscape character and scenic beauty of the area within the North Wessex Downs National Landscape.”

Pinehurst: A retrospective application by the owner of 489 Cricklade Road to be able to keep the hardstanding and dropped kerb constructed without planning permission has succeeded.

The work was done just last June and can now be kept permanently.

Town Centre: Retrospective permission is sought for the single-storey rear extension added to the building at 19-19 Fleet Street in the town centre. The shop units are used by a delicatessen and the upper floors by a health studio.

The operator of the health studio has objected to the permission being granted telling planning officers: “The existing structure is not fit for purpose, and does not comply with building regulations. A more appropriate course of action would be for the structure to be removed and subsequently rebuilt, subject to a new planning application. The result of which would be a structure that is both safe and compliant.”

Extensions: Applications have been submitted to build extensions to houses or outbuildings, or to convert lofts and garages to habitable rooms at: 36 Withering Road, Old Town; 14 Pen Close, Greenmeadow; 78 Belsay, Toothill; 45 Whitworth Road, Pinehurst; 19 Markham Road, Wroughton; Apple Tree Farm, Pentylands Lane, Highworth; 6 Raglan Close, Lawn; and 11a Ashen Copse Road, Wroughton.

R Edwards of 9 Keohler Close, in Tadpole Garden Village has applied for retrospective permission for the already-effected conversion of the garage on the property half into storage and half into a ‘sensory room’ for the use of children with disabilities who are not in mainstream education.

Such applications have been approved for 41 Penhill Drive, Penhill; 103 Cheney Manor Road, Cheney Manor; 49a Grosvenor Road, Kingshill; 40 Iffley Road, Rodbourne; 7 Down View Road, Broome Manor; 1 Byron Court, South Marston; 122 Drakes Way, Walcot; 1 Crossways Avenue, Pinehurst; 2 William Street, Kingshill; and 72a, 71-72 Commercial Road in the town centre.

Help support trusted local news

Sign up for a digital subscription now: https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/subscribe/

As a digital subscriber, you will get:            

  • Unlimited access to the Swindon Advertiser website        
  • Advert-light access             
  • Reader rewards             
  • Full access to our app