A plan to turn a stone barn on a farm near Dartmouth into a home has been rejected by South Hams Council planners.

The owners of Higher Swannaton Farm, in the countryside between Dartmouth and Stoke Fleming, had asked for permission to convert the old barn while demolishing an existing metal-framed storage barn and a former dairy.

“The last thing we want is for this building to stay as it is or get worse,” said Cllr Lee Bonham (Lib Dem, Loddiswell and Aveton Gifford).

A previous application for a home on the site in 2022 was supported by council officers, but talks broke down over whether occupancy should be restricted to local people, and the application was withdrawn.

The latest application proposed a revised development with changes to the design, but the ‘locals only’ restriction remained a sticking point.

Planning agent Lisa Jackson told the planning committee that restricting who could live in the home would make the project hard to deliver.

She said: “Officers have chosen to focus on the negative aspects. This is a sensitive and contemporary conversion.”

On the ‘locals only’ requirement she added: “To limit your market would be foolhardy. This is a really high-risk project, and the applicants are running a farm that needs all income streams.

“It is going to be an expensive conversion, and it becomes a project they cannot fulfil. If you want to save this building you have to understand that that sort of restriction is not necessary.”

Dartmouth Town Council’s planning committee chairman Graham Webb said the town council supported the application, and he struggled to see why the district council’s officers opposed it.

“It would be a shame to miss out on the benefits that this proposal delivers,” he said.

And Cllr Ged Yardy (Lib Dem, Dartmouth and East Dart) said the proposal would save two heritage buildings. “The design as it stands is perfectly acceptable,” he said. “This project brings significantly more benefits to Dartmouth than it does harm.”

However, planning officers argued that the adverse impacts outweighed the benefits. They said there was no safe pedestrian access to the site and the proposed building would have an adverse impact on the barn.

They said that if the scheme withdrawn in 2022 was still in existence, they would be supporting it.

“Our officers are not against change, but they are not happy with this particular change,” said Cllr Victor Abbott (Lib Dem, Ivybridge East).

And committee chairman Cllr Mark Long (Ind, Salcombe and Thurlestone) added: “There is a scheme to be delivered here, but I don’t think this is it. There is a clear policy requiring a local connection, and I do believe that is important.”

Committee members decided to reject the proposal by eight votes to one.

A number of local residents supported the planning application and are ‘disappointed’ by the decision to reject the proposal. Quoting the derelict eyesore site and added value to the areas character and heritage as driving forces to support the project.