The building hereby proposed to be converted is located within the area designated as countryside within the Sedgemoor Core Strategy where new development is strictly controlled. The Core Strategy does not identify a need for general housing within the countryside as this would represent a less sustainable form of development given the limited access to services and facilities. By exception, the Council's Planning Guidance Note on the conversion of rural / agricultural buildings sets guidance by which conversions to dwellings are acceptable in line with paragraph 55 of the National Planning Policy Framework. However, by virtue of the building's relatively recent construction, its sole and continuous use as a building ancillary to the main house of Box Cottage and purely domestic function, it is not considered to be a rural building in accordance with the Council's guidance. The proposal is therefore considered to be tantamount to a new dwelling in the countryside and is considered to be contrary to policies S1 and P6 of the Sedgemoor Core Strategy and paragraph 55 of the National Planning Policy Framework.