Estate agent Martin Walker has had his bid to demolish an old cottage thwarted by neighbours who challenged the decision in the High Court.
The objectors said allowing the demolition of Copsewood in Little Cheverell near Devizes would create an unwelcome precedent in a conservation area and challenged the decision in the High Court. They have now been notified that their case has been successful.
Mr Walker, who has lived in Little Cheverell for 20 years and runs an estate agents in Devizes said he wanted to create a home for himself and his family at Copsewood. He did not want to comment on the current situation but said in a statement to the planning committee on May 28 that the house as it stands is uninhabitable. His plan was to replace it with a new building in a very similar design.
One of the objectors, Michael Maxwell, who lives nearby in Low Road, obtained an emergency injunction on June 29 to prevent the demolition until a judicial review could be made. Deputy Master Knapman, sitting at the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court in London, heard that Wiltshire Council had conceded that it had not provided adequate reasons for the decision to allow the demolition of the unlisted, 18th or 19th century cottage. Thus the council accepted that the approval, made in May this year by the eastern area regulatory committee, should not be allowed to stand. The application will now be re-determined by the Wiltshire Council area planning committee.
Wiltshire Council has been ordered to pay Mr Maxwell’s costs of just over £8,000. Mr Maxwell is delighted and said: “The concern of the objectors was the precedent that the demolition would create in all conservation areas covered by the Eastern Area regulatory committee.”
John Kirkman, branch chairman of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said Wiltshire had ignored advice from its own conservation officer that the cottage should not be demolished as it makes a positive contribution to the character of the conservation area. “It is to be hoped that they will not override the advice of their professional adviser again,” he said.
