Bourne barn conversion plans rejected by South Kesteven District Council

Turning farm buildings into houses would be ‘impractical and undesirable’, according to council officers who rejected the plans.

Applicant Jeg Farms Ltd put forward plans to transform three agricultural buildings into eight smaller houses at a farm in Northorpe Fen, about a mile from Bourne.

The barns included in the application, which was submitted to South Kesteven District Council in February, are a mix of steel-framed, blockwork and reinforced concrete with brick walls and are surrounded by fields and other agricultural buildings.

According to the applicant, the appearance of the buildings would remain largely the same and they would offer a mix of two and three-bedrooms.

They added that there would be no harm to highway safety as the existing access from Fen Road is suitable for the scale of the development, and ample parking and manoeuvring space would be available.

However planning officers disagreed with a number of the applicant’s points and rejected the plans.

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Emma Whittaker, assistant director of planning at South Kesteven District Council, said: “On the basis of the information submitted, and an inspection when visiting the site, it is considered unlikely that the barns could be converted to residential use without works which would amount to rebuilding rather than conversion.”

She added that the buildings sit within a medium risk flood zone and the location makes it impractical and undesirable for the building to change from agricultural use.