Block Management in Mere
A fifth of Mere is class 5 radon, the rest where testing is not advised.
In Mere, residents' management companies, RTM companies and freeholders can appoint us for block management, service charge accounting and lease administration. The Salisbury Plain groundwater alert contains 87.20 per cent of the built-up area, and all 98 flood features recorded in the parish are natural high ground rather than engineered defences. A class 5 radon square covers 20.2 per cent of the town, and the conservation area covers 21.1 per cent with no appraisal behind it.
What We Would Put First for a Block in Mere
Check the Address for Radon
A class 5 square covers 20.2 per cent of built Mere while the rest sits in the lowest band. We would check the block's individual address and, where it falls in the class 5 area, recommend radon measurement in communal areas.
ComplianceInsure with Groundwater Exposure in Mind
The Salisbury Plain groundwater alert contains 87.20 per cent of Mere's built-up area, and all 98 features in the parish are natural high ground rather than engineered defences. We would reflect that in the block's insurance placement and handle any claims.
InsuranceEstablish Which Watercourse Body Is Responsible
The Shreen Water is a designated main river while the Ashfield Water is an ordinary watercourse, which changes who is responsible. For a block beside either, we would establish the position and keep it on the compliance record.
ComplianceObtain Consent Inside the Conservation Area
Mere's 34.2 hectare conservation area has no appraisal and holds 68 of the parish's 91 listed entries. For a block there we would obtain consents before specifying any external works.
ConsentsManaging a Block in Mere at a Glance
- Local authority
- Wiltshire Council
- Authority type
- Unitary
- Building control
- Wiltshire Council Building Control
- County
- Wiltshire
- Fire and rescue service
- Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- Wessex Water
- From our Plymouth office
- About 96 miles in a straight line
- Setting
- Inland
What It Costs to Move a Block in Mere to Us
Management is a fixed annual fee, quoted for the building and agreed before we start. We take no commission and no third-party incentives, so the fee is the whole of what we earn from the building. Taking a block on carries a one-off start-up fee, set by size:
| Block size | Fee |
|---|---|
| Start-up fee, up to 10 units | £420.00 |
| Start-up fee, up to 25 units | £540.00 |
| Start-up fee, 50 units and above | £660.00 |
Taken from our published Additional Services price list, PBM Form #01-27 rev.6, effective 23 June 2025. All fees quoted are inclusive of VAT. See the full price list and how a handover works.
Groundwater, Not the Shreen, Covers Most of Mere
Groundwater is the dominant mechanism at Mere, and it covers almost the whole town: the Salisbury Plain groundwater alert contains 87.20 per cent of the built-up area. The Upper Stour tributaries alert, which lists the Shreen among its watercourses, covers a further 5.60 per cent. No flood warning area covers any part of the town. Two watercourses run through it with different legal statuses, which matters for who is responsible. The Shreen Water is designated main river, while the Ashfield Water is an ordinary watercourse. Only the Shreen runs through the conservation area. The Cranborne Chase groundwater alert names Mere in its published description, but its area is nearly twelve kilometres away and does not touch the town. The Salisbury Plain alert does not name Mere at all, yet contains almost all of it. There is no flood scheme here. No statutory flood investigation has been carried out at Mere, and the town does not appear among the council's operational flood working groups. The Environment Agency's asset data records 98 features in the parish, and every one is natural high ground in private ownership rather than an engineered defence. For a block, the groundwater alert is the exposure to disclose to insurers.
Lease Plans and Fire Separation Matter in Conversions
The published Mere ward figure is 169 flats among 2,045 households, 8.3 per cent. Only nine of the ward's fifteen census output areas fall inside the town, so about two fifths of the ward is rural parish. The town itself has 1,337 households and 138 flats, 10.3 per cent. Of these, 92 are in purpose-built blocks, 6 in a converted or shared house, 28 in another converted building and 12 over commercial premises. The town's flat share is higher than the ward's because the rural remainder is almost entirely detached houses. For a converted block, lease plans and fire separation between flats need checking early.
A Fifth of the Town Designated with No Appraisal
One conservation area, designated in 1973. The council's two date fields disagree in form, so the year is as far as the record goes. It covers 34.2 hectares, of which about 71 per cent lies inside the built-up area, covering 21.1 per cent of the town. There is no appraisal. The document the council attaches to the designation is a single page stating only that documentation for this conservation area statement cannot be referenced at this time. So for a fifth of Mere there is a designation but no character assessment to argue a scheme against. For a block there, a consent application for external works has to make its own case on the area's character.
91 entries on the National Heritage List fall inside the parish, two Grade I and three Grade II*. Of these, 68 sit inside the conservation area and 71 inside the built-up area. The two Grade I buildings are the Church of St Michael the Archangel on Church Street, first listed on 6 January 1966, and Woodlands Manor. The Grade II* entries are The Chantry, the Old Ship Hotel and Dewes House, all listed the same day and amended in July 1989. The parish also holds seventeen scheduled monuments, two of which reach the built-up area: Mere Castle and the barrows on Long Hill. There is no registered park or garden in the parish; Stourhead is in Stourton, not Mere. For a block in the conservation area, listing should be checked before works to the fabric are specified.
One Fifth Class 5, Four Fifths in the Lowest Band
Mere has a class 5 square, at 10 to 30 per cent of homes at or above the action level, and it covers 20.2 per cent of the built-up area. The remaining four fifths of the town sits in the lowest band, where the published advice is that measurement is not advised. So a fifth of built Mere is in a high band, directly alongside ground where the national advice is to do nothing. Checking the individual address changes the answer here. A block in the class 5 area should have radon measurement in its compliance programme.
That is national advice about the ground, not about the building. The same map excludes basements, cellars and underground spaces at every band, so an enclosed plant room, undercroft or lower-ground flat is still worth a look even here, and whatever is found belongs with the compliance record.
The Only Article 4 Direction Is at the Old Nurseries
One Article 4 direction applies, and it is narrow, recent and unrelated to the historic town. It covers a single parcel of land at the Old Nurseries adjoining Burton Field. It was made with immediate effect on 7 September 2020 and confirmed that November. It removes permitted development rights for the erection, construction, maintenance, improvement or alteration of a gate, fence, wall or other means of enclosure. The site is about a kilometre east-north-east of the conservation area and covers under half a per cent of the town. The direction's reference number begins with the digits 93, which is not a date. There is no Article 4 direction over Mere's conservation area, so permitted development there is restricted only by the conservation area regime itself. For a block in the town, that regime, not this direction, governs external work.
A Withdrawn Local Plan Leaves the 2015 Core Strategy
Decided under the Wiltshire Core Strategy, adopted 20 January 2015. Its Core Policy 17 makes Mere a local service centre and provides for approximately 285 new homes across the community area to 2026, about 235 of them at Mere. Three hectares of employment land are carried forward as a saved allocation. The strategy notes that settlements across the border in Dorset and Somerset, particularly Gillingham, also provide employment, education, retail and leisure. The nearest railway station is at Gillingham. Saved policies from the Salisbury District Local Plan of 2003 continue to apply. The emerging Wiltshire Local Plan reached examination in November 2024 but was withdrawn on 22 May 2026 under section 22 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Its replacement is not expected before 30 April 2029. The council states that the 2015 Core Strategy's policies are not automatically out of date and will continue to guide development. There is no made neighbourhood plan and no referendum has been held. A neighbourhood area covering the whole town council area was designated on 14 December 2018, and nothing has been published since. About 47.8 per cent of Mere parish lies inside the Cranborne Chase National Landscape. Only 1.64 per cent of the built-up area does, in a fringe at the north-east corner, and none of the conservation area. The adopted strategy's statement that a large part of the area is within the designation refers to the Mere Community Area, a much larger unit than the town. The nearest point of the conservation area is only about 40 metres from the boundary, so the setting of the designation is a live consideration on the town's northern edge. For a block there, visible external works may need to address that setting.
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Mere Questions
Does an Article 4 Direction Cover Mere's Conservation Area?
No. The only direction covers a single parcel at the Old Nurseries adjoining Burton Field, made on 7 September 2020, removing rights for gates, fences, walls and other enclosures. It lies about a kilometre east-north-east of the conservation area, so permitted development there is restricted only by the conservation area regime itself.
Is Mere Inside the Cranborne Chase National Landscape?
Mostly not. About 47.8 per cent of the parish is inside the designation, but only 1.64 per cent of the built-up area, in a fringe at the north-east corner, and none of the conservation area. The conservation area's nearest point is only about 40 metres from the boundary, so setting is a live consideration on the town's northern edge.
Which Local Plan Applies Now the Wiltshire Local Plan Is Withdrawn?
The Wiltshire Core Strategy, adopted 20 January 2015, with saved Salisbury District Local Plan policies from 2003. The emerging plan was withdrawn on 22 May 2026, and its replacement is not expected before 30 April 2029. The council states the Core Strategy policies are not automatically out of date. Mere has no made neighbourhood plan.
Nearby Areas
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