Wiltshire billionaire's horticultural building refused

A conservation report said the plans were not in keeping with the "natural, homogenous evolution of traditional garden structures on the site"

A billionaire has had a planning application to build a horticultural building at his home refused.

Sir Henry Keswick hoped to build a maintenance store, staff welfare facilities, an office and a glasshouse at his home in Oare, near Marlborough.

However, the plans were denied by Wiltshire Council.

A conservation officer working on the case said the proposed building was "more akin to a residential bungalow and not an outbuilding".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the proposal claimed that the design of the new horticultural building was in keeping with the existing greenhouses on the estate.

The site is within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is home to Grade I listed 1740s country mansion, Oare House.

The conservation officer assigned to the case disagreed and said the building would not appear to be "a natural, homogenous evolution of traditional garden structures on the site".

The report also said the application failed to demonstrate that the proposed development could be accommodated without prejudicing the welfare of mature trees which are protected by the conservation area status.