Planning Permission for Barn Conversion into Dwellings

The Rural Planning Practice has recently achieved planning permission of a barn, which had permission in part for stables, into two detached dwellings for a client in Framfield, East Sussex. Our clients had sold the main farmhouse and were looking to downsize. One of the proposed single storey three bedroom dwellings would be lived in by them, whilst another would be sold with land and a sand school to provide facilities for an equestrian buyer. Although there were strong objections from the Parish Council, we were able to achieve planning approval without going to Committee.

The barn was in two main sections, one was used as stables and the other for general storage, because of the non-agricultural use, the Class Q Permitted Development was not achievable. The building did however meet the parameters of the Wealden “Flexible Barns” policy and we were able to demonstrate that the change of use, which included demolition to create two detached units, could take place without substantial reconstruction.

We also needed to prove the number of traffic movements would not increase the contentious issue of nitrogen deposits in the Ashdown Forest.