PLANS to convert a creekside barn into a home in an exclusive South Hams village have been given the nod by decision makers.

Applicants Mr and Mrs Leith of Chillington had applied for permission to convert the traditional stone Prowse Barn into a two bedroom house, with a detached home office.

Granting permission, members of South Hams Council’s development management committee felt the proposals would have relatively little impact on their surroundings, despite the site being inside the South Pool Conservation Area.

For this reason however, local ward councillor Julian Brazil said he could not support the plans. South Pool Parish Council had earlier objected, saying among other things that the application conflicted with the conservation area management plan.

Cllr Brazil told his fellow councillors that the design of the home was fairly minimal in his view, and could have been ’a lot worse’. He was delighted to see that plans for car parking had been modified to make vehicles less visible.

But, he continued, the site was at the ’very sensitive’ boundary of the village, and he was very concerned about the visual impact of a proposed gravelled drive and the parking area. He had been, he said, ’witness to the time and effort’ that South Pool Parish Council had put into creating the conservation area, and he feared that light pollution, the new ’domestic curtilage’ created in a field, and even cars driving up and down to the new house would have a detrimental impact on it.

Mrs Elizabeth Bennett, a member of the public also spoke against the proposals. She said the conservation area had been set up as the parish council felt it was of vital importance the landscape was given added protection.

Locals valued the view of the barn as it was, and did not want the ’intrusion’ of a ’long, pink gravel drive’ and evidence of habitation like cars and washing lines. She added there was no housing need in the village, except for a small number of affordable homes.

According to property website Zoopla, the average value of a property in South Pool is just under £740,000.

Planning consultant Mark Evans spoke in favour of the development, calling it a ’sensitive, high-quality scheme’. He said there had been considerable public interest in the plans, most of which had been supportive, and they would ’breathe new life’ into the historic building and contribute to the housing need in the district.

The applicants were a local family who were sympathetic to the character of the area, and he believed the drive and parking area would have minimal impact on the landscape – something with which the council’s landscape officer Alex Whish later agreed.

Cllr Basil Cane wanted to know whether a hedge that screened the property from some viewpoints was protected. Mr Whish confirmed that if it was in the conservation area it would be, and if not a tree preservation order could be imposed which said the hedge had to be replaced if bits of it died.

Cllr Jacqi Hodgson felt it was important to ’keep life in these areas’, and said that it was a conservation, not a preservation area. Cllr Rosemary Rowe suggested that if the building was not converted it would eventually fall into disrepair.

Councillors voted to approve the plans by nine votes to two.