Village voices heard as dilapidated cottage near Bidford will get makeover

The owner of a dilapidated cottage in the heart of a picture postcard Warwickshire village has been given permission to turn it into a modern family home even though planning officers urged that the plans be thrown out.

Single-storey extensions will now be added to the front and rear of White Gates in Barton - a riverside village near Bidford - which villagers say will be a huge improvement on the rundown cottage there at the moment.

Planning officer Louise Casey told Stratford District Council’s planning committee yesterday, Wednesday, that the new additions would be out of place.

In her report she explained: “The application property lies within the Barton Conservation Area and is considered to be of individual local interest and local group value within this conservation area. There are other listed buildings immediately adjacent to the site and the existing site is relatively open in character.

“The introduction of further built form in the manner proposed will reduce the traditional open character of the conservation area at this point. Further, the proposed extensions are considered to be inconsistent with the building’s traditional character and appearance and therefore fail to preserve or enhance the setting of the conservation area or nearby listed buildings with no public benefits arising to outweigh this.”

But Cllr Penny Taylor, from Bidford Parish Council, disagreed. She told the meeting: “The nearby architecture is mixed and this cottage will not be out of place. The public benefits seem clear to us - the cottage will improve that corner of the village, retain many of its original features both inside and out and become a habitable building.

“The cottage needs to be lived in, loved and maintained for future generations. White Gates has needed drastic action to make it habitable and bring it back into family use after decades of neglect. The parish council believes these plans are practical and imaginative and will create an asset for the conservation village and replace an uninhabitable eyesore.”

Ward councillor Cllr Daren Pemberton (Con, Bidford East) added: “The sole reason for refusal is for the impact on the setting of the listed building. It is my contention that this development is a sympathetic, simple and quite ingenious development that will bring back into use a property that has been derelict for some years.”

And their thoughts were echoed by those on the planning committee who, after hearing that more than half of the village’s residents had written letters supporting the renovation, voted unanimously to approve planning permission.

Cllr Bill Fleming (Con, Bidford West and Salford) said: “Barton is a picture postcard village and to currently have that in the middle of it is not the best thing - so it will have a positive effect on what the village looks like rather than a negative one.”