Yoga studio on Bucks farm allowed despite complaints from neighbours

Mrs Rachel Coleman-Vaughan was granted planning permission to change the use of a ‘redundant’ agricultural building at Longwood Cottage on Lee Road in Saunderton.

The detached timber-clad ‘yoga barn’ has been used for teaching classes since September 2022, meaning the new permission to regularise its use is ‘retrospective’.

An application form for the plans said there were 15 existing car parking spaces, while the plans stated the maximum capacity was ‘always 18 people because this is dictated by the size of the building’.

They added: “There is plenty of car parking and the use has no impact on any neighbour. This is a small-scale business use of a redundant building in the countryside supported by government policy.”

However, parking was raised as a concern in many letters of objection by residents, including by Mrs Deborah Dobson who lives nearby.

She wrote: “Car parking for 15 cars implies an expanding venture overlooked by the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Site of Special Scientific Interest.

“Unclassified Lee Road is already busy with vehicles to the golf club and those cutting through to Bledlow. It is used recreationally by horses, cyclists and walkers and has dangerous sections.”

The applicant’s agent said the ‘small-scale’ yoga studio had ‘plenty of parking’ and ‘does not affect neighbours’.

However, another objector, Mrs Denise Folley, said: “The whole site containing said buildings is a blot on the landscape.”