SPPS Strategic Planning Policy Statement Edition 2 (December 2025)·Page 51
Conversion and Re-use of Existing Buildings in Countryside
Sympathetic conversion and re-use of locally important buildings of special character (such as former schools, churches, and traditional barns) for non-residential use is permissible where appropriate to countryside location and secures the building's upkeep.
The conversion and re-use of existing buildings for non-residential use: provision should be made for the sympathetic conversion and re-use of a suitable locally important building of special character or interest (such as former school houses, churches and older traditional barns and outbuildings) for a variety of alternative uses where this would secure its upkeep and retention, and where the nature and scale of the proposed non-residential use would be appropriate to its countryside location.
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