Plans to turn former award-winning small business into house among latest planning news

Plans to convert a former “small business of the year” into a house, as well as plans to convert an old garage, old barn, and vacant shop are among the schemes people are trying to get planning permission for in Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset.

Every week, the two neighbouring unitary authorities receive hundreds of planning applications — and this week turning unused buildings into new housing was a major theme. We have selected some of the most interesting proposals.

All planning applications are available for public inspection on the respective council’s website. Most plans will be decided by council planning officers, but some of the most significant or contentious will go before the councils’ planning committee.

Planning committees are made up of elected councillors but decisions should be decided based on the council’s planning policies, not local politics — although it doesn’t always turn out that way.

Village beauty salon could now become bungalow

A former beauty salon on the edge of a Somerset village could soon become a two-bedroom bungalow.

Loxton in North Somerset must have been one of the smallest places in the county to be served by its own award-winning beauty salon. Kelly Hooper opened The Barn in 2008 as a 26-year-old single mum and quickly turned the countryside beauty salon into one of the best in the country, winning awards from “salon of the year” to “business women of the year” and “small business of the year.”

But the acclaimed salon closed in May, after the impact of Covid and rising costs, and the building has since sat empty on the edge of the village. Now the owners of the building have applied to North Somerset Council to turn the building into a home.

Under the plans, there would be bedrooms roughly where the treatment rooms currently are. Where there is currently a reception area, there would be a kitchen, and the tanning room and waiting area would become part of an open-plan lounge and dining area.

A statement submitted with the application by the owners’ agent said: “Our client has made contact with Loxton Parish Council to seek support for the scheme and at the full meeting held in November.

“Indication was made that the Parish Council would much prefer the property to be converted to a dwelling as opposed to a holiday let as the Parish Council felt that Loxton had too many holiday lets.”

You can view and comment on the plans here: https://planning.n-somerset.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=S55CIVLPG8100

Garage “in state of disrepair” could be knocked down for houses

Central Garage in Whitchurch

An old garage in a village on the edge of Somerset could be demolished and replaced with two new homes.

Central Garage is on Bristol Road in Whitchurch, just a short distance from the bridge that leads out of Somerset and into the city. But it has sat vacant since 2021 and is now “in a state of disrepair.”

Now Creo Properties Ltd have submitted a planning application to Bath and North East Somerset Council to knock it down and build two three-bedroom homes on the site. Plans show two semi-detached homes with each of the six bedrooms planned across the site having a balcony facing out to the road.

A statement submitted with the planning application said: “This site currently contributes negatively to the locality due to its poor condition and lack of commercial viability. The site is currently unoccupied and cannot be returned to use without substantial investment.

“Its location makes it appropriate for sustainable residential development. […] It should be possible to propose a viable scheme that will be a great improvement on the existing.”

You can view and comment on the plans here: https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/webforms/planning/details.html?refval=23%2F04552%2FFUL#details_Section

Open-sided steel barn could become family home

A short way across North East Somerset, a remote open-sided steel barn could be renovated and turned into a spacious rural family home.

MK and EJ Sweet submitted an application to Bath and North East Somerset Council for prior approval to turn the barn — which sits at the end of a track about halfway between Chew Magna and North Wick — into a four-bedroom home.

A statement submitted with the planning application quoted a structural survey as saying: “The steelwork will require little modification to accommodate the new use. The architectural scheme enhances the stability of the structure and will protect it from weather/further corrosion which could eventually lead to deterioration.”

The barn would get proper new insulated walls but the current metal would be kept as cladding along three of the walls, except for holes cut for windows. A new rubble wall would be built around the base where there is a gap between the metal and the ground, and new timber cladding would be added on the other — currently open — side.

The statement said: “This approach is regarded as appropriate for the agricultural setting and would not be inappropriate for the green belt site. The proposed conversion will provide opportunities to enhance and manage the local biodiversity, leaving the site better than it was at the start.”

The house would have four bedrooms on a new self-supported first floor, with kitchen, dining room, living room, hallway and utility room below.

You can view and comment on the plans here: https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/webforms/planning/details.html?refval=23%2F04660%2FADCOU#details_Section

Ground-floor apartment planned in vacant shop

Ground-floor apartment planned in vacant shop

Plans have been submitted for a vacant storefront in Weston-super-Mare to turn it into a one-bed apartment.

13 Orchard Street has been vacant since August, an application form submitted with a prior approval application to North Somerset Council stated. Now there could be a bedroom behind the storefront, with plans to turn it into a flat.

What is currently a shop floor area would become a bedroom, corridor and kitchen and living area, while the staff kitchen area at the back of the shop would become an additional “snug.”

You can view and comment on the plans here: https://planning.n-somerset.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=S4ZOPYLP05300