Interview: Rural Planning

Interview with Rural Planning Practice Cirencester

Could you please give our readers some insight on how you can help residential clients embarking on a renovation project? We can help in lots of ways. For example where you have fallen in love with a listed house which is almost perfect, but you just need a bit more space and you are not sure how this can be approached we can advise on listed building issues. If there is a paddock but no stables or sand school and nowhere for the classic cars, plus you fancy earning some income from glamping we can help even in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. You would like to know whether an off lying paddock has long term hope value for residential development or whether other more modern barns can be converted to an alternative use including business use, this is familiar territory for us as are buildings and dwellings for agriculture and commercial equestrian yards.

What significant differences are there between your approach to planning and the service that an architect may offer? The architect is a key part of the team. Architects are good at design but are not necessarily conversant with planning policy or technical issues such as lawful development certificates and permitted development which can add usefully to floor area or help to support a more technical planning point.

What’s the background of your firm? Established originally in Kent the late 1980s by Judith Norris we have been providing planning advice in the south east for many years. We opened the Cirencester office six years ago extending our territory further north and west.

Do you have a favourite success story? Too many to list!

How do you find working with the planning authority in Cirencester? Most planning authorities are finding the volume of applications has increased during Lockdown. It has placed yet more pressure on an underfunded and under resourced sector of public service; Cotswold District Council is no exception. We advise caution regarding the use of pre application advice because it can be constrictive rather than constructive.