Councils aren’t supposed to be too prescriptive about design, beyond the requirement that projects exhibit a high standard of design. It’s different in conservation areas, or built up locations where there’s a strong local style. Clearly, in these more sensitive situations anything new needs to blend sympathetically with the established character.

However, in a secluded countryside location there’s less justification for this. Government planning guidance (in Planning Policy Statement 1) states that ‘Local planning authorities should not attempt to impose architectural styles or particular tastes and they should not stifle innovation, originality or initiative through unsubstantiated requirements to conform to certain development forms or styles’.

The advice does go on to say that it’s proper to support local distinctiveness. That can prove to be a stumbling block if you’re hoping, for example, to build a startling contemporary home in a rural setting. Having said that, a good architect should be able to bring locally distinct themes into a contemporary design.

Try to find some areas of common ground with the council planners in the first instance. Even if you don’t get complete agreement, you should still make an application. What planners say they’d prefer in a pre-application discussion can differ from what they’d feel obliged to accept via a formal application. Make sure your drawings show the design off sympathetically and get support, if you can, from neighbours and the parish council.