Ballakilley Farm Planning Statement
Supporting information
1400717
1. Location
Ballakilley farmhouse and adjacent farm buildings sit within their own grounds with no immediate neighbours other than the Old Vicarage and Parish Church across the main road.
Existing mature tress and recently planted trees along the residential boundary of the site means that the farmhouse is generally screened from public view.
2. Existing Property
The main house is traditional in design with stone construction, slate roof and sliding sash windows. An existing glazed conservatory links the single storey kitchen to the living room located within the adjacent converted outbuilding.
The conservatory is timber framed and built off a stone plinth wall. The timber frame is showing signs of structural movement, and damp penetration with rotten cills and opening windows. The abutment of the conservatory and kitchen wall is exposed and water penetration into the building is a constant problem. The conservatory was intended to act as a link between the kitchen and adjacent living room, however the conservatory is too hot in summer and too cold in winter for practical everyday use. As a result the living room has become isolated and underused.
On the back elevation (Photograph 4) there is a small redundant lean-to store that is in a poor state of repair and a large ‘modern’ fixed window that appears out of context with the rest of the house. The window was an attempt to allow natural light into the living room, however the room remains very dark and unwelcoming.
3. Proposed works and extension
The proposal is to replace the existing conservatory with a new oak framed structure on the same footprint as the existing. The existing glazed roof will be replaced with an insulated roof, with a natural slate finish to match the main house, to create a garden room that can be used all year round and properly links the kitchen and living room. The ridge line of the new roof will be raised slightly to be closer in height to that of the single storey kitchen. This will allow for lead flashings to protect the external stone gable of the kitchen and stop water penetration into the building.
The lean-to store is to be removed and the existing window opening is to be widened to allow more natural light into the living room. A new conservatory is to be built off the living room to open it onto the garden and maximise the use of the room. The roof will be extended to the side to create a sheltered area for an external garden bench, and in doing so the new conservatory appears more anchored to the existing building rather than simply ‘tacked on’. A monopitch roof is proposed for the conservatory so that the gable of the adjacent garden room remains the dominant element on that elevation.
The proposed materials are sympathetic to the existing property i.e. stone plinth walls, natural slate roof, oak frames (Interior examples of the proposed oak frame system are attached). The style of the new garden room is very similar to that of the existing and so the main house remains the dominant element. The new conservatory off the living room is small in scale and does not detract from this collection of farm buildings, and being to the rear of the property it will not be seen from the main approach.
