New house paint rules for 'Bridget Jones' village

Snowshill is a popular village, with tourists drawn to its traditional charm

Residents of a Cotswold village which featured in the film Bridget Jones's Diary will now have to apply for planning permission to paint their houses a different colour.

Strict new planning rules have come into force in the picturesque Gloucestershire village of Snowshill, aimed at preserving its character.

It will mean locals will have to apply for permission to replace outside doors, erect gates or fences, paint outside walls or install solar panels.

Councillor Sarah Hands, from Tewkesbury Borough Council, said: "If you want to paint your door in the same or a similar colour - no one's stopping you from doing that - [but] a different colour, would have to be put in as a planning application."

Snowshill, part of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is known for its historic buildings.

It provided the setting for the Christmas scenes where Bridget visits her parents at Christmas time in the first Bridget Jones' Diary movie.

But from 1 October, the village will come under an Article 4 Direction enabling Tewkesbury Borough Council to withdraw certain permitted development rights to better preserve the village's "unique appearance".

The village of Snowshill was used as a location for the first Bridget Jones movie

Why is this happening?

According to the council, the "majority" of buildings in the village are not listed and are "at risk" from changes that could have a "significantly harmful effect".

"There are only approximately 50 properties - 40 of those are within the conservation area," said Ms Hands, lead member for planning and place making.

"And 25% of those are listed buildings so we've got a real concentrated area of history and historic beauty there."

The council was also advised that it needed to control the impact of "small-scale developments" to protect the village's "exceptional historic character".

"Changing a window here, changing a door there - you think it isn't making much difference," said Ms Hands.

"But accumulatively over the village, if everyone started making these changes, those things that make it a beautiful, unique, preserved village would start to chip away."

The majority of buildings in the village do not have listed status

What are the new rules?

Under the new planning rules, work and alterations to buildings which would normally not require planning permission will now need formal council approval from the council.

Residents wanting to replace windows and front doors, build porches or put in roof lights or change their roofing materials will have to apply for planning permission.

Other restrictions include creating or replacing hard surfaces in gardens, erecting gates, fences, or walls, painting the exterior of buildings a new colour or altering antennae or solar panels.

"No one's saying if you want to paint your door in the same or a similar colour just to refresh it or you need to fix your fence posts, or your gate - no one's stopping you from doing that," said Ms Hands.

"What we're saying is those things that are going to make quite a material change maybe you're looking at new modern windows, or a different colour, those would have to be put in as a planning application."

What do the locals think?

A consultation into the proposed new rules, which ran from January to March this year, received five written responses according to the council.

Concerns were raised the measures could place "undue burdens on property owners" carrying out routine maintenance.

In response, the proposal was "refined" to make it clear that "painting in the same colour, or routine maintenance" would not require planning permission.