A DEVELOPER believes shambolic local politics has got in the way of his multi-million pound plan to restore a Grade II listed building on the edge of Calne to its former glory.

David Thorne, of Lily Designs, based in Farnham, Surrey, said they have been forced to lodge a formal complaint with Wiltshire Council after attempts to co-operate with councillors to repair Chilvester House have fallen on deaf ears.

He said: "We bought the site from receivers in 2015 and it is a Grade II listed building with the barn that had detailed planning permission to convert into a four bedroom family dwelling. We sent in several pre-application submission proposals over the last year but did not hear anything back.

"It just goes on and on. It is a national heritage asset. We just don't understand it. We have a team of tradesman we would like to hire for the job to help restore this fine house and barn. We are not some Mickey Mouse operation who have never dealt with a listed building before. We operate a fully professional team with an extensive portfolio and have vast experience of dealing with buildings of this nature.

"You have a national travesty in terms of the government saying they need more houses, buildings that are left to rot and fall apart and councillors and officials who are sat on their hands doing nothing."

Despite not having a single site visit from councillors or conservation officers, Lily Designs hopes it will see a positive outcome in the future in order to repair the house which has been left at the mercy of vandals.

Mr Thorne added: "We have an appeal running against Wiltshire Council at the moment and and will be seeking a costs award. We have a large file of quite embarrassing evidence against them that will be made available at the appeal. The appeal should be decided in April but maybe hopefully we may get a positive decision before then."

Wiltshire Council and Calne Town Council were approached for a comment.