RETROSPECTIVE planning permission is being sought for a summerhouse near Shaftesbury.

Atlas Planning Group, on behalf of Mr and Mrs Macpherson, have applied for permission for a new Lake House, at the Old Barn, Middle Coombe.

The new structure is already in place, with retrospective planning permission now being sought from Dorset Council.

“The application site is limited to the north-east corner where there is a summer house within the wider plot of The Old Barn,” the application said.

The new Lake House at Middle Combe. Picture: Atlas Planning Group/Wiltshire Council

The site is within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), but not within a Conservation Area, it said.

“An application was refused in January 2021 for the conversion of the lakeside building into a residential dwelling,” the application said. “The application was subsequently dismissed at appeal.”

The new building is the same size and in the same location as the original summer house, it said, while the applicants will accept a planning condition to “ensure the building is only ever used for incidental purposes to the main dwelling”.

The old summerhouse, which has been replaced. Picture: Atlas Planning Group/Wiltshire Council

“The original summer house was rotting and the previous retaining wall was of timber construction which had failed and was leaning,” it went on.

“As such, this has been removed and replaced with more appropriate Gabion baskets supporting a solid bank.”

For more details, and to comment on the plans, log on to wiltshire.gov.uk and search for application reference PL/2023/09774.