Dentist has plans for North Swindon listed farmhouse

A plan to restore the 18th Century Groundwell Farmhouse, located close to the junction of Cricklade Road and Thamesdown Drive at Groundwell West, has been lodged with Swindon Council and is due to go before the planning committee at the end of July.

Patrick Holmes who runs the Sevenfields Dental Health Centre in Penhill Drive, bought the Grade II listed building to expand his practice and to use it for other medical services. The proposed use of the building has been welcomed by the council as it involves minimal disturbance to the historic building but restoration is estimated at around £800,000 and he needs to generate funding by using parts of the site for residential development. The planning application includes three new buildings on the site. One will have eight apartments which relate well to the scale of the farmhouse and the adjacent dwellings in Woodcutter Mews, a short cul-de-sac of just 20 houses.



The other two, each with four apartments, have been designed to match the original farmhouse. One will be located on the lower part of the front garden amongst the trees; the other will replace the listed coach house which will have to be taken down and the materials reused. The demolition of a listed structure has been a particularly sensitive issue and has involved complex negotiations between Swindon planners, English Heritage, English Nature and the county archaeologist.

Despite reports of unnecessary delays in some local media, Christopher Moore, Managing Director of NC Architects of Wroughton, commended the planning officers for their co-operation and assistance, pointing out that with so many interests - including local residents - the process was inevitably going to take some time.

Mr Moore said the need to sacrifice the coach house was necessary to create enough revenue to fully safeguard the farmhouse, which would otherwise be jeopardised.

Some residents fear the impact of the development on traffic, access and parking. But many are keen to see a long term solution as the building has attracted vandals. 

Having seen the latest plans, one resident of Woodcutter Mews said that there were still problems with the proposals. 'A speedy resolution for the restoration of Groundwell House is in all our interests, even though it means turning the area back into a building site for a while. I believe some of our concerns have been met, such as the plan to re-open the old drive to the house for traffic to the surgery, but I am still concerned about parking in the mews.'



The plans can be seen at Swindon Council's planning department at Premier House, Station Road.