Part of a Herefordshire engineering workshop can be converted into a four-bedroom house.

Based at the Forge Garage, Woonton southeast of Kington, Stocks Engineering carries out steel fabrication work and repairs farming equipment.

The workshop gained a steel portal-framed extension in 2018. But with the business now being scaled down, Mr Morgan of the company sought permission in March to convert this to a two-storey home.

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Lying within the Woonton settlement boundary, the “family home” would share road access with the remaining workshop.

Plans show it would have four upstairs bedrooms with a ground-floor kitchen/dining room and lounge, and a new detached garage equipped with vehicle charger.

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The building would have roof-mounted solar panels, foul and surface water would be managed on-site, while a new native hedge would be planted around it.

The building was scaled back during the planning process, losing a new single-storey extension to the west which Herefordshire Council planners considered “too large for the rural setting and character of Woonton”.

Planning officer Tracey Meachen concluded the revised scheme met with local and national planning policy and relevant legislation, with conditions being applied to ensure its highways, drainage and ecological impact were acceptable.