BLUNSDON ST ANDREW: People living in new houses on the Abbey Farm development to the north of Abbey Stadium will soon be able to just pop out for some bread and milk.

LSP developments has been given permission to build a convenience store on an empty plot in Diamond Crescent, near a new school built for the development and not far from the street’s junction with Sapphire Road.

The shop will have nine parking spaces off the street.

OLD TOWN: A small 17-bedroom hotel in Victoria Road will be able to serve lunches and dinners.

The owner of Swandown Hotel at 37 Victoria Road, S Chowdhury, has been given permission to open a restaurant in the building.

He will use the existing breakfast dining area but expand it, using the space taken up now by two bedrooms.

He told planners the restaurant will be for both hotel guests and non-residents and will operate as a separate entity to the hotel.

KINGSHILL: A plan to build four one-bed maisonette apartments has been approved.

Overview Management has been given the go ahead to build what looks like a semi-detached block of two houses on an empty plot next to 62 Westcott Place near the junction with Wootton Bassett Road. Inside will be four self-contained open plan apartments.

RODBOURNE CHENEY: The unusual shape of two flats which could have been built in Bessemer Road East did not impress Swindon Borough Council planners. Chris Sheering from Old Town had applied for permission to demolish two garages next to 126 Bessemer Road and put up one building with two flats in instead.

From the front, the block would have looked like a typical house, with bay windows on the ground and upper floor and a brickwork arched porch at the door. The only hint this wasn’t to be a standard house would be a porthole light above the door.

But the top view of the plans shows the house to be getting narrower the further away from the front it got – rather like a triangle with the top lopped off. This and an unusual stepped back meant planners turned down the proposal, saying: “The unusual and awkward shape of the plot plus its relatively small size and the constraints of it have led to a cramped and contrived appearance. An unusual design has been adopted including an angled side, front and rear walls, an uneven eaves line to the side and differing eaves

“There is no other evidence of such design elements within the vicinity which is traditional in character meaning the development will appear out of context to the detriment of the street scene.”

CENTRAL: A plan to build six flats on an empty plot of land between two closely packed terraced street which met significant opposition – including from MP Robert Buckland – has been refused.

George Coates of Old Charm Properties in Devon had put forward a proposal to build a block of six flats on a square of land off Shelley Street, between it and Dryden Street.

The application follows a previous scheme, by the same company, to build 10 flats on the site, which was turned down by Swindon Borough Council, and again, on appeal by the planning inspector in 2017.

This was also refused, with planners saying: “The proposed access fails to create an attractive and welcoming environment through which future residents would need to pass to gain access to their properties.

"Due to its contrived and constrained nature, the proposed access route from Shelley Street remains unwelcoming and future residents would be prone to fear of crime when entering and exiting the proposed residential properties.”

EXTENSIONS: Plans for extensions, outbuildings or conversions to habitable space have been approved for: 69 Oxford Road, Stratton St Margaret; 7 Fairlawn, Liden; 67 Station Road; 17 Grosvenor Road, Kingshill; 65 Slade Drive Stratton St Margaret; 39 Bramwell Close, Kingsdown; 40 Dudmore Road, Old Walcot; 8 Fairwater Court, Wroughton; 19 Hatch Road, Upper Stratton, 35 Holdcroft Close; Blunsdon; 22 Maldwyn Close, Middleleaze; 5 Jole Close, Stratton St Margaret and 31 Rackham Close, Tadpole Garden Village.