AN INCENSED developer will not invest in Wiltshire ever again after plans to refurbish a derelict listed building in Calne took nearly two years and one appeal to be approved.

David Thorne, of Lily Designs, based in Farnham, Surrey, said he will complete the multi-million pound restoration of the Grade II listed house and surrounding area in Chilvester Hill following the successful appeal on Friday but will not look to invest in any other projects in the county in the future.

"We have just won the appeal against Wiltshire Council after 18 months of battling them," Mr Thorne said. "It is a really sorry day for Wiltshire and other investors because we have been put off from any future investments here because of this process.

"We will never do anything here again. If this would have gone the way it should have then we would have done more but it didn't. We now need time to review the site and our funds before we start work but the house itself needs to be restored. The barn, which burnt down, needs to be restored and converted."

Despite finally getting the green light for the proposals, which include partial rebuilding of the main house and the conversion of the coach house into a property, Mr Thorne is adamant that local politics got in the way of his application to restore the historic 17th-century building to its former glory.

He said: "The development is going to create more houses and jobs and be a good thing for the town and I would have thought the council would have been on board with that. Due to the long and drawn out process we have lost the team of builders we were hoping to use because we couldn't give them a date. It is shambolic."

The appeal, which was decided by Inspector Gareth Thomas, ruled that the plans would be in keeping with the style of the house and surrounding area and would conserve an enhance biodiversity in the area as well.

A Wiltshire Council spokesperson: “As with all planning applications, we acted professionally throughout the process, dealing with both the owner and their agent, and over the course of the application we were in regular contact with the applicant’s agent. While the inspector allowed the appeal, he did not find the council’s behaviour to be unreasonable and turned down the applicant's request for costs.”