A BUCKINGHAMSHIRE COUNCILLOR’S application to transform the now vacant offices of a defunct furniture making company will be determined next week.

Cllr Duncan Smith seeks to convert The Barn in Cutlers Court, High Wycombe into a four-bedroom property, each with its own en-suite bathroom.

The West Buckinghamshire Area Planning Committee will convene on Tuesday, August 18, to consider the application.

At the time the planning application was made to the former Wycombe District Council, Cllr Smith was a member of South Buckinghamshire District Council.

The Grade II listed former barn, situated in the small “business centre” of Cutlers Court, was until February 2019 the ten-year offices of furniture design firm PJP Interiors Ltd until voluntary liquidation.

The two-storey barn was in the late 80s/early 90s converted to office space with eight parking bays as part of a larger development.

Then in 2013, one of the buildings also converted decades before, a former Grade II listed farmhouse, was converted back to residential.

Cllr Smith’s proposal for a four-bedroom property is “considered acceptable in principle”, according to council documents.

Specifications for the proposed development include:

  • A sitting room
  • Four double bedrooms, each with en-suite bathrooms
  • A ground floor plant/storeroom
  • An open plan living, dining and kitchen area with separate utility space
  • A first-floor toilet

They also plan for the erection of 1.4-metre high brick and flint wall.

Cllr Smith’s proposed development currently falls below the threshold for an affordable housing contribution, according to council documents.

Planning permission is also subject to proof that re-use of the site “for employment generating uses, or community facilities, is no longer practicable”.

As part of their application, Cllr Smith states the building has been unoccupied for approximately 16-18 months.

Buckinghamshire Council has been approached for comment.