Wiltshire Council: Jess Glover is pleased to inform that she has recently secured planning permission for the erection of a new dwellinghouse outside of a settlement boundary in the village of Winterbourne Gunner, Wiltshire.

The site comprised the rear garden of the existing dwelling which featured its own road access, however the settlement boundary for Winterbourne Gunner excluded this parcel of land from the defined settlement, and as such it was classified as ‘open countryside’, so there would be an in principle objection to a new dwelling on the site. However, the site directly to the northern boundary contained a storage site with various caravans, outbuildings, storage containers and areas of hardstanding, which had been permanently stored on the site since at least 2001 and thus this use of the site is lawful through the passage of time. Therefore, the impact of a new dwelling on the application site was not considered to have a direct harmful impact upon the Landscape Character Area due to the intervening use.

The Planning Officer agreed with this assessment and concluded that “it is evident from both the site inspection and the plan extract showing the boundary above that development on the site would not alter the residential character of the site or encroach into the surrounding landscape”.

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