Windmill to be turned into home despite objections

A Grade II-listed windmill in Devon is to be transformed into a home despite fears the "special architectural" building could be lost.

Fernicombe Windmill at Windmill Lane, Paignton, is to be turned into a single house, with a new roof structure, a two-storey extension and a garage.

Nine people objected to the plan over concerns about the potential impact to the site's heritage. But the applicants said they would use skilled craftspeople to protect the building.

Planning officers at Torbay Council approved the proposals at a meeting last week.

The building is listed as having "special architectural or historic interest" by Historic England and is thought to have been built in the late 18th Century.

The organisation described the four-storey structure as "disused and partly ruinous".

It was last used as a windmill in about 1860, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

During World War Two it served as an air raid lookout post and it is one of five surviving windmill towers around Torbay and one of only nine surviving across Devon.

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