Thursday September 18th 2025
Steading house in Rosewell
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Plans to turn a dilapidated farm building into a house have been rejected after applicants referred to an ‘outdated’ bat and barn owl survey to support their case.
The proposals for the building at Shewington Farm, at Rosewell, in Midlothian, would have seen a steading on the land converted into a house.
However planners said claims that the existence of roosting bats and birds nests was ‘negligible’ because the roofs had been lost to storm damage since an assessment was carried out in 2020 confirming they were there, were not good enough.
They said: “The applicant’s agent was asked to submit surveys to consider the impact of the proposal on protected species and ecology, namely bats, breeding birds and barn owl. This was not submitted but the planning statement refers to the ecological assessment carried out for the previous application here which identified bat roosts and barn owls in the buildings.
“They state that the building has been since damaged by storms and all roofs are lost so there is a negligible potential for bat roosting and bird nesting. This previous survey was carried out in 2020 and so is out of date.
“Updated surveys are required to consider the impact of the proposal on protected species. This has not been submitted. It has therefore not been demonstrated that the proposal will not have an adverse impact on protected species.”
The design of the proposed new house was also described by planning officers as ‘bulky’ with a second storey to be added to part of the building.
And they said while council policy did allow the use of redundant steadings as housing it required to be carried out without “substantial alteration or extension to the original fabric”.
They said the submitted plans showed the existing buildings as largely intact rather than in the state of disrepair they are currently in and did not make it clear how much of them needed to be rebuilt to create the new home.
Officers said: “The existing buildings are in much poorer condition and a state of disrepair than that shown on the existing plans. It is not clear how much of these buildings can be reused and converted and how much needs to be rebuilt.
“The agent was asked to submit updated, accurate existing elevations and survey details to clarify the condition of the existing buildings. These details have not been submitted. Given the above, the necessary amount of rebuilding to accommodate a house here could be significant which would not comply with policy.”
Refusing the planning applications officers said it had not been demonstrated that the buildings were in a condition to be converted or that the new house would be in keeping with the rural character of the area.
They added it had not been demonstrated to the council’s satisfaction that the house would not have an adverse impact on protected species living there.
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