GraceMachin have again successfully obtained planning permission for a client to convert an existing modern barn into a single residential dwelling following a nearby success last year.

GraceMachin were instructed to review the new client's existing barn and advise on which planning strategy to employ to achieve a residential consent for an innovative contemporary barn conversion to residential.

We advised that Class Q Prior Approval was too constraining to achieve and meet the client’s aspirations and that our analysis of local plan policy has identified that a full planning permission was the correct form of application to submit to the local planning authority.

Over several months, we obtained and project managed the application obtaining both ecological surveys for the building and a structural survey which robustly identified that the building was capable of conversion; a key planning issue.

We then recommended a local architect to work with which resulted in a final design fix following very careful consideration of all the planning issues affecting the site including its location and landscape impact.

Just eight weeks after submitting the application, it was formally approved by the Local Planning Authority.

In this case GraceMachin Planning & Property identified that Policy 22 - Development within the Countryside, Point 2, Sub Point 3 was fundamental to the success of the application along with Paragraph 131 of the National Planning Policy Framework which stresses that "…great weight should be given to outstanding or innovative designs which promote high levels of sustainability".

Nick Grace led this project and was delighted to achieve another permission for a new client in the East Midlands. He said, "Achieving any planning permission is welcomed but with this application we have obtained something really very special, and we look forward to watching the build project emerge over the next 12 months. Once again, due diligence and giving the correct advice at the start of the planning process has resulted in a positive result for our new client and we continue to strongly recommend this approach to all our existing and future clients."