A CHARITY created last year after the death of a long-standing resident of the Blackdown Hills is hoping to win planning permission to redevelop an isolated site lying between Clayhidon, Churchinford, and Hemyock.

The John Griss Trust was formed by Clayhidon Parish Council at his bequest to manage the estate for the benefit local residents.

Mr Griss owned Rose Cottage, Bolham Water, next to the Blackdown Mission Rooms, a former Baptist chapel.

The mission rooms are owned by property developer Andy Lehner and his wife Jane, who have applied with the trust for planning consent to demolish both buildings and replace them with three new houses and two garages.

Planning consultant Rebecca Randall, of Polden Planning, said there had been a house on the site for at least 150 years, but the four-bedroom Rose Cottage was now derelict after decades of neglect.

It had a roof of corrugated sheeting and lacked cavity walls or suitable foundations and would be more expensive to renovate to modern standards than to demolish and rebuild.

Miss Randall said: “While it has been inhabited until recent years, it would not be suitable for future occupation in its present state.”

She said the single-storey mission rooms was also in ‘a significant state of disrepair’ meaning that to renovate it would effectively constitute a rebuild.

Miss Randall said the trust wanted to provide a long-term asset on site for the benefit of the community and it made sense to consider the two sites together to maximise opportunities.

The intention was that one of the new homes would remain in the trust’s ownership while Mr and Mrs Lehner would own a second property, and the third would be sold to cross-subsidise the development.

Miss Randall said: “By taking this approach the scheme will offer local benefit and provide much needed smaller housing.

“The alternative is that both sites are sold separately and fewer, larger dwellings are built to replace the existing buildings which are unlikely to be made available for local people.

“General feedback has been positive with many seeing the sensitive re-development of the site as a means of dealing with what is currently a local eyesore and bringing an appropriate level of small-scale housing to the community on a previously developed site in preference to greenfield.”

A previous planning application to build four houses on the site, including one which would be ‘affordable’, was considered too much and therefore withdrawn in favour of the current plans.

Miss Randall, said although planning policies were weighted against development in the countryside, the site was an ‘exception’ because the existing buildings were not capable of conversion.

She said: “The re-use of the site for residential purposes would contribute to the vibrant rural community and enhance the sense of identity as a cluster of locally distinct buildings within the countryside. In our view, the application proposals represent a far more sustainable and organic change in this location than a greenfield site or settlement extension.”

Clayhidon parish clerk Donna Evans said parish councillors supported the plans.

However, Mid Devon District Council (MDDC) principal planning officer Carly Millman in her pre-application advice said conversion of the existing buildings would be preferred with the existing separation between them maintained.

She said a ‘broader interpretation’ of the settlement would include reasonable access to local services and infrastructure such as a GP surgery, school, local shop, public house, and bus service – most of which were lacking in Clayhidon. The site would therefore be considered as an isolated site which would not be a sustainable location for new housing under the exceptions policy,” she said.

The Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty said it was important for new development, to be of a scale and layout which conserved and enhanced the distinctive pattern of built form found across the hills.

It noted how a sense of place was easily lost through factors including replacing small-scale, locally distinct features with ones of a standard design eroding local character.

MDDC has been given a target date of December 12 to determine the planning application.