Advice sought on turning listed coach house into home

The plans, submitted on behalf of the Truro Diocesan Board of Finance following an earlier listed building consent application, would see the currently derelict building converted into a three bedroom home with little external alteration, and with a new access lane running from the rear of the property towards Love Lane. The plans would also include blocking up the existing access to the stable courtyard from Church Hill and putting timber gates into the existing pedestrian access behind the vicarage.

A planning statement claims that the conversion will allow the diocese to "establish a sustainable future use of the listed building and its architectural and historic interest has social benefits for the local and wider community."

The statement also says: "The proposed redevelopment of the Coach House seeks to balance the need to conserve and enhance the significance of the designated asset and its setting with that of the insertion of a new residential use."

A heritage impact assessment notes that the conversion cold result in the loss of some of the stable's features, including the cobbled floor, and timber stall and walls.

In the heritage statement it is also said that a north extension to the coach house is "less adaptable" as "poor condition and stability is an issue. Retention as a ruin would not be appropriate. Proposed alterations attempt to balance conversion for viable use with... retention of the external form and legibility, and re-use of significant materials."

Penryn Town Council has raised no objections to the plans, although the Falmouth and Penryn Conservation Committee has objected, saying: "This application makes the design far too domestic for a working coach house building. The plethora of glazing bars repeated on the French doors and faux stable doors loses the building's sense of purpose. Substantial and much simpler joinery painted in receding colours would be more suitable."