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What is the Design Guide?

The Lightmoor Village Design Guide is an important tool in helping to keep Lightmoor Village distinctive and environmentally sustainable. When you purchased your home, you signed a TP1 document which details what alterations can and can’t be made to your home.

The Design Guide explains this in an easy-to-understand way and includes the process you need to follow when applying to make an alteration, what happens at each stage of the process and the appeal process.

We always advise you to check the Design Guide and get advice from our estates officer before submitting an application for an alteration to your home.  They can talk you through the process, answer any questions you may have and make sure the application process is as smooth as possible.

The Design Guide also clearly sets out whether planning permission is also required from Telford and Wrekin Council.

Reading the Design Guide, can put you in a better position to know whether there are likely to be any issues when making an application to alter your home.

We always want to make submitting an application to alter your home as easy as possible and therefore, we always suggest getting in touch with our estates officer before you submit your application. You can contact us on 01952 898524 or email [email protected]

Here are examples of residents we have supported with their applications.

Danny and Ellen moved to Lightmoor Village in 2014 with their two boys. They applied for a conservatory to be built. Here Danny explains how he got on:

I think like a lot of people I knew permission had to be given by BVT but I wasn’t aware why or what the process was. We’re lucky as they have an office in Lightmoor Village, so I just popped by and asked. I must admit reading social media I was concerned about how the process would be but Darren, the estates officer, was more than helpful from the initial conversations to when the project was complete. BVT will try and support all residents and look at each request individually but I now understand as the long-term stewards, they have long-term responsibility for the character of the village. After contacting Darren, he arranged to come and see us at a time suitable for us. He asked about our plans and then went away to check whether there would be any issues. This ensured no delays in the process or having to reapply if there were any problems. Darren was available throughout the process and even spoke to the builders to ensure everything was okay. It’s about communicating and keeping people in the loop and raising concerns and questions before they become issues. I now know I can contact BVT at any time to seek advice or support.

Louise and her husband moved into Lightmoor Village in 2014 and welcomed their son in 2016 and their latest arrival in 2022. Louise got in touch to explain their issues around parking.

She explained: “We have a three bedroom house which technically has three parking spaces as we have a garage but our car won’t fit in the garage and we are having to park one of our vehicles on the road. We live near a junction and were very conscious our neighbours had to go around to leave the road which was inconvenient for them. We had a large area to the side of our drive which has always been very difficult to maintain due to its proximity to a large hedge row and even trying to lay grass in this area did not look very tidy due to weeds and brambles growing rapidly. We felt this space would make an ideal area to increase parking to be able to take our second vehicle off the road and would also improve the look of the area. We didn’t think our application would be accepted to begin with, but we had many letters of support from all of our neighbours and as parking is such an issue in the Village we felt hopeful that it would be considered. We had also been asked by BVT to find an alternative place to store our bins which were located to the side of our garage. Due to having no access to the garden without going through the garage and down a step, BVT had agreed a bin store at the side of the garage would be needed. Therefore, along with the parking request, we added this into the plans and created a bin store area behind a fence which we felt would support our application as it would solve the issue with the bins as well as the parking issue.

BVT have to provide the estates and stewardship service but they are there to support residents. I would always advise you to get in touch to ask for their assistance as they understand the covenants in place and what can and can’t be approved.

Initially our application was denied but receiving support from BVT prior to it going to appeal ensured it was successful.

As part of our responsibilities we have to ensure all alteration requests meet the Lightmoor Village Design Guide specifications, which are based on the legal requirements of the TP1 document homeowners sign when moving into their home.

If an alteration goes ahead without following the procedure you could end up with a breach, which can cost time and money to correct.  This is an example of one such case:

During a regular estate check, we came across a property that had completed an alteration, which was an installation of a porch to the front of the property. An alteration application hadn’t been received by us or Telford and Wrekin Council.

As part of the TP1 document in this case it contained a covenant which stated:

5.5 Buildings

(a) Not at any time from the date hereof to erect on any part of the Property any building or structure of any kind nor to carry out or permit the carrying out of any structural alterations or additions to the Property which shall be visible from the exterior of the Property without the prior written consent of BVT (whose consent may be granted or withheld in its absolute discretion).

Discussions took place with the resident advising that the type of alteration made would not get approval as per the Village Design Guide. This meant that the resident had to remove the alteration and put the area back to its original state.

During this time, we also spoke to the builder who had completed the work who advised that to his knowledge they did not require approval as the work was in-line with permitted development.

However, permitted development rights have been removed in Lightmoor Village, which means approval is needed by BVT and Telford and Wrekin council. They asked if a retrospective application could be submitted but on this occasion, we had to advise that due to the Design Guide it couldn’t be approved and we wouldn’t want the resident to pay for the application when we are aware it will be refused.  The resident therefore had to have the installation removed at further cost.

Our estate officer is available to talk through your plans for alterations, so you are aware in advance of any issues that may arise. You can contact us on 01952 898524 or email [email protected] to arrange a suitable date/time for you (including evenings and weekends).