A WYE Valley architect’s practice has been given the go ahead to build a “unique” eco holiday let treehouse, reports Nick Hartland

The 14-month planning process to win approval for the “luxurious retreat in the woods” at Green Acres, Parkhill, Woolaston, was described as ‘arduous and arbitrary’ by Scott Hills of Brockweir-based Hills & Co.

He told The Architect’s Journal: “The biggest challenge [involved] countless ecological surveys for bats, dormice, birds and great crested newts and the need for “goalpost shifting” additional information requested by the local authority at each step.”

“Thankfully our clients had a lot of staying power throughout and were determined to persevere, even though at times approval seemed doubtful.”

The 47sq m house on stilts in the grounds of applicant Tom Kelly’s home will feature a bedroom, a bathroom and an open plan living/dining/kitchen area.

It will also have a balcony plus access via a ramped walkway from the meadow through the trees.

Mr Hills noted that the obstacles in their way in the planning process had been “mostly legislative and rarely design-related”.

And a planning officer’s report granting permission acknowledged: “This application has been delayed due to the need for additional ecological surveys and information to be provided…

“This is a unique building and the design and scale of the proposal are considered to be appropriate for the proposed use and location within the open countryside…

“To ensure that it is not used as a residential dwelling during this period, a condition will specify that the holiday let cannot be occupied for a period exceeding four weeks for any single letting, and that there shall be no return within four weeks by the same household.”

The report also noted that it is “a sensitive ecological site with the potential to impact on a number of protected species including lesser horse shoe bats, dormice and great crested newts”, but conditions such as “automated black-out blinds” and other measures were appropriate to protect the wildlife.

The house is expected to be completed by next spring and will have a glued timber structure and be clad with charred cedar.

Mr Hills told The Architect’s Journal they wanted to “raise awareness of well-considered design in the rural environment”.

But he said that with some local authorities “offering residential design guides that are two decades out of date and no real planning legislation for sustainability and low-energy developments, there remains a long way to go”.

He said that as well as “countless” bat surveys, they had done a “full lighting assessment and detailed mitigation strategy”.

“To receive planning approval to develop this low-energy, elevated black-clad, new-build, contemporary treehouse in an existing woodland bordering an AONB, (through a pandemic) was no small feat,” he added.