Rother District Council

You will need planning permission for conversion to use other than for agriculture, even if there are no structural alterations.

The Local Planning Authority's policy is to restrict conversions of barns, oasts and other traditional buildings in the countryside to uses which contribute to the local rural economy. In general priority will be given to commercial uses. Conversions to employment uses are usually better able to retain the character of the original building and also help to reduce demand for new buildings in the countryside. Any commercial use should not have a detrimental effect on the amenities of the locality or adjoining dwellings.

In view of the design difficulties in accepting a domestic use in a traditional farm building it is essential that the work respects the character, appearance and integrity of the building. Thus a converted barn, oast or other agricultural building should not resemble a domestic dwelling once converted, but rather should retain all the outward appearance of an agricultural building.

Residential conversion proposals probably present any designer with the most difficult challenge if this basic objective is not to be lost. By comparison a commercial or tourist accommodation use is likely to be more straightforward; there will be less need to divide the interior into separate rooms; new window and door openings can be kept to a minimum and the normal domestic clutter of garden sheds, garages and other incongruous features avoided.

Design Requirements

The following architectural objectives should be followed:

• Rooflights in barns or oast stowage barns will not normally be allowed, except where their use would result in preserving a blank area of wall space or they can be sited on an internal roof slope which is not visible from the ground. In any event standard anodised aluminium or PVCu rooflights will not be allowed. Dormer windows will not be allowed in any circumstances.
  
  
• No rooflights will be allowed in the oasthouse proper (round or square kiln) and windows in the walls below will be permitted at ground floor level only where they should be kept to a minimum and sited as inconspicuously as possible.
  
  
• Wherever possible existing openings should be used to provide areas of new glazing either as fixed window walling in wagon ways, cart doors or loading hatches. Existing doors or shutters may be retained in permanently opened position to indicate the openings former use. All other windows should be kept to a minimum size and number. Experience suggests that a module for casement sashes of no wider than 300-450mm is likely to be most successful.
  
  
• In most cases windows stained to the same colour as the feather-edged wall covering will minimise any disruption new openings may cause. A colour which approximates to the silver grey of weathered wood is most suitable.
  
  
• Where external stairs survive or evidence for their existence is available they should be retained or reconstructed to a suitable pattern as part of any conversion. This is particularly true in the case of oasthouses where they are a common feature.
  
  
• Roofs to barns or oast stowage barns should be recovered with thatch, salvaged clay peg tiles or natural welsh slates as applicable. Oast roundels which have a later brick vaulted roof should retain their traditional black tarred finish. Other tiled roundels should be recovered using tapered clay tiles.
  
  
• Where the original kiln roofs have been taken down to eaves level and capped off either with a flat roof or by carrying the stowage barn roof over the kilns it will normally be a condition of any planning permission that the roofs should be reinstated complete with a suitable cowl.
  
  
• All proposals where oasthouses are involved should provide for the restoration of suitable cowls which may be either constructed in the original form in painted wood or a suitable glass reinforced plastic alternative.
  
  
• Where an open fire is proposed it will be necessary to demonstrate that it can work effectively by means of a flue which can be sited inconspicuously.
  
  
• Soil and vent pipes and other vents including air intake grilles and terminals shall be sited as inconspicuously as possible and where necessary suitably camouflaged.

Administrative Requirements

All applications for changes of use and conversion of barns, oasthouse and traditional farm buildings should normally be submitted as full planning applications accompanied by a survey showing the building as it stands and a full structural survey. If the building is listed then a separate listed building application will also be needed.

In this regard it is Council policy to require the submission of a full structural survey prior to the determination of planning applications relating to the conversion of barns, oasthouses and other similar buildings.

The purpose of the Policy is to ensure that the structural condition of the building is such that it is capable of being converted without substantial reconstruction in accordance with the detailed plans accompanying the application. The survey and subsequent report should therefore contain sufficient information to enable the Local Planning Authority to make an informed decision on the building's stability and suitability for conversion.

Also given the specialist requirements of barn, oasthouse and traditional farm building conversions you are strongly advised to employ a professionally qualified architect or surveyor to prepare the plans.

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