RetroSpective planning permission is being sought for three new holiday lets at a prestigious sculpture school in Bondleigh.

The application, 2152/23/FUL, has been made by sculptors Andrew Sinclair and Diane Coates-Sinclair who run The Sculpture School.

A statement issued by Adams Planning and Project Services stated that they were seeking retrospective approval for three holiday lets which have already been constructed at the Bondleigh premises.

Two are shepherd’s huts while a third is the conversion of attic space above the existing sculpture school.

The two figurative sculptors co-founded The Sculpture School in 2010 to teach figurative sculpture, their specialism, while also undertaking sculpture commissions.

They decided to diversify into holiday accommodation to provide additional income to help the business weather the financial fallout from the covid crisis.

They built the attic space flat above the sculpture school and constructed two shepherd’s huts before being told by a planning officer that they needed to seek planning permission.

They have plans for an additional two treehouses, also holiday accommodation.

Their planning statement states that the shepherd’s huts have been constructed within the existing paddock and have no impact on the rest of the site.

They are screened from the parking area and the sculpture school. Comments are invited by August 8.

Meanwhile, there is an application for planning permission to convert a barn into a home on land at Chichacott near Tavistock, map reference SX 603965, application 1771/23/FUL.

Architect Geoff Cawse, proposing the conversion, said: “The historical importance of this small barn is appreciated. The proposed conversion, we believe, is sympathetic to the barn and provides a positive way forward to prevent this barn from falling further into disrepair and eventually ‘past the point of no return’. The barn has no real agricultural use being far too small for modern farming and is onlonger part of any agricultural holding.”

Other planning applications to West Devon Borough Council include:

Erection of a replacement dwelling, The Milking Parlour, Higher Wilminstone Farm, Wilminstone near Tavistock – https://apps.westdevon.gov.uk//PlanningSearchMVC/Home/Details/231665

Listed Building Consent for removal of internal partitions on the first floor, Tor View School, Kilworthy Road, Tavistock – https://apps.westdevon.gov.uk//PlanningSearchMVC/Home/Details/232083