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Search the Public Notice PortalA plan to convert historic Herefordshire buildings into six holiday lets has been approved after a prolonged planning battle.
Retired electrical contractor Brian Watkins bought Cobnash Farm between Kingsland and Leominster with wife Helen as a development project 10 years ago, but they then struggled to gain permission to convert the large 19th-century, grade II listed Waterloo Mill building into three holiday apartments.
They also wanted to turn two other historic but unlisted buildings to the rear, one largely in ruins, into further holiday accommodation, while removing two modern steel-framed barns.
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But seemingly interminable planning delays, including over the need to show “nutrient neutrality” regarding local waterways, “ruined ten years of my life”, Mr Watkins said earlier this year, claiming it “should have been a straightforward bid”.
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings was unhappy with the “irreversible” planned removal of some of the mill’s machinery, which would make bringing it back into use “near-impossible”.
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But Herefordshire Council’s own building conservation officer Hugh Shannon backed the Watkins’ proposal to retain much of the mill’s working behind glass, which he said was “a valuable way of preserving some of its important history.”
Planning officer Adam Lewis acknowledged the proposal “has proven to be beset with a number of constraints including heritage, protected species, flooding, drainage and the location within the River Lugg catchment.”
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But on the heritage issue he has now concluded there is “no realistic prospect of the mill returning to its original function”, and the conversion plan “strikes a balance between ensuring the buildings have a viable use whilst preserving the machinery that give it significance”.
The new accommodation “would align with policy aspirations to support rural business diversification and promote Herefordshire as a tourism destination”, he added.
With the nutrient neutrality issue being overcome by the Watkins’ purchasing £6,720 of “phosphate credits” from the council, full planning permission was granted.
Listed building consent for mill works was granted in March.
