Block Management in Wincanton
Two Article 4 directions that the national dataset does not show.
Wincanton is part of the area where Plymouth Block Management provides block, estate and leasehold management for RMCs, RTM companies and freeholders. Two Article 4 directions apply, over the conservation area from 2010 and Moor Lane from 2006, yet neither appears in the national dataset. River Cale warning areas name Hopkins Court, Mill Street and Shatterwell Villas, and the 2010 appraisal counts 91 listed entries.
What We Would Put First for a Block in Wincanton
Check the Council Register, Not the National One
Somerset Council has published no Article 4 records to the national dataset, yet directions cover the conservation area and Moor Lane. We would check the council's own register before specifying external works on a block there.
ConsentsReview Flood Cover on Cale-Side Streets
Warning areas name Hopkins Court, Bennetts Field, Southgate Road, Shatterwell Villas, The Batch, Mill Street and Carmel Villas, and no alleviation scheme exists. For a block on those streets we would review flood cover and reserves at each renewal.
InsuranceClear Listed Consents Before Section 20
The 2010 appraisal counts 91 listed entries in the conservation area, and across the parish Historic England lists Grade I The Dogs and Grade II* Balsam House and the White Horse Hotel. We would confirm a block's status and obtain consent before issuing a Section 20 specification.
Major works and Section 20Target Radon Measurement by Square
The centre is class 2 while eleven of twenty five squares are lowest band, where measurement is not advised. We would check the block's square and recommend measurement in ground-floor communal areas where class 2 or 3 applies.
ComplianceManaging a Block in Wincanton at a Glance
- Local authority
- Somerset Council
- Authority type
- Unitary
- Building control
- Somerset Building Control, the council's own service covering the four former district areas
- County
- Somerset
- Fire and rescue service
- Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- Wessex Water
- From our Plymouth office
- About 89 miles in a straight line
- Setting
- Inland
What It Costs to Move a Block in Wincanton 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.
Two Article 4 Directions Missing from the National Dataset
Two Article 4 directions apply, one covering the conservation area, confirmed in 2010, and one covering land at Moor Lane, confirmed in 2006. Wincanton is listed first among the South Somerset conservation areas with directions in force, alongside Bruton, Castle Cary and two parts of Yeovil. Somerset Council has published no Article 4 records to the national dataset, so the council's own register is the place to confirm them. For a block in the conservation area, external works should be checked against the direction before they are specified.
Most of the Ward's Flats Are Purpose-Built
The only published geography carrying the 2021 Census accommodation data here is the Wincanton and Bruton ward. It holds 5,075 households, roughly two and a half times a normal ward for this part of the country, and covers two separate towns. Its 689 flatted households, 13.6 per cent, are made up of 486 in purpose-built blocks, 88 in a converted or shared house, 56 in another converted building and 59 over commercial premises. Those figures include Bruton and the surrounding rural parishes, so the town's own flat share is not separately published. For any block, the leases and a survey at handover say more about its management needs than the area figures.
River Cale Warnings Name Hopkins Court and Mill Street
Inland and fluvial, on the River Cale. Two Environment Agency warning areas cover the town and both are street-specific. The riverside properties area names Hopkins Court, Bennetts Field trading estate, Whitehall, Moor Lane and part of the A371. The wider River Cale at Wincanton area names Southgate Road, Bennetts Field trading estate, Hopkins Court, Shatterwell Villas, The Batch, Mill Street, Carmel Villas and parts of the A371 and A303. Above them sits the River Cale and tributaries alert, running from Shalford and Southmarsh down to the confluence with the Stour. No flood alleviation scheme exists here and there is no flood storage area. The only relevant entry in the capital datasets is a region-wide property level protection programme. The adopted local plan notes areas of high flood risk at Wincanton but names no scheme. For a block on the named streets, flood cover and reserves should be reviewed at each insurance renewal.
Grade I the Dogs Among 91 Listed Entries
One conservation area, with three different dates in official sources. The council's own 2010 appraisal states that the area was first designated in 1973. The council's record in the national dataset gives 12 April 1988, which appears to be a later boundary designation. The appraisal itself refers to a boundary amended around 2010. Published by South Somerset District Council in 2010, it remains the current assessment, with no later appraisal or management plan. For a block in the area, external works need checking against conservation controls and the council's direction before they are specified.
The council's 2010 appraisal records 91 listed building entries within the conservation area. They include a Grade I seventeenth century house, a Grade II* parish church, a late Victorian town hall and several eighteenth century former town houses of distinction. Across the whole parish, Historic England's current data gives 111 entries with one Grade I and four Grade II*. The Grade I is the house known as The Dogs, listed on 24 March 1961. The Grade II* entries, all listed the same day, are the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Balsam House, Priors House at number 7 and the White Horse Hotel. There is no scheduled monument and no registered park or garden in the parish. For a listed block, consent should be in place before a works specification is issued.
Measurement Not Advised Across Part of Wincanton
The town centre is class 2, a maximum radon potential of 1 to 3 per cent of homes at or above the action level. Across the twenty five squares covering the area, eleven are in the lowest band, thirteen are class 2 and one is class 3. In the lowest band all parts of the square have under 1 per cent of homes at or above the action level, and radon measurement is not advised. Radstock, twenty miles away, has no square below class 5, which shows how sharply radon varies over short distances in Somerset. A block's own square decides whether measurement in its communal areas is advised.
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.
Inherited South Somerset Plan Applies Until the County Plan
Somerset Council states that existing local plans remain in place for the areas of the former district councils until the county-wide plan is adopted. For Wincanton that is the South Somerset Local Plan 2006 to 2028, adopted in March 2015, under which Wincanton is a primary market town with its own direction of growth policy. The emerging Somerset Local Plan 2045 is at an early stage. The Wincanton Neighbourhood Plan 2018 to 2028 was made in March 2018, effective from 1 March, following a referendum on 8 February 2018. In that referendum 838 votes were cast, 750 in favour and 87 against with one spoilt paper, on a turnout of 18.44 per cent. The neighbourhood area was designated in March 2014 and the examiner's recommendations were agreed on 7 December 2017. Both plans carry weight when a block applies for planning consent for alterations.
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Wincanton Questions
Why Does the National Dataset Show No Article 4 for Wincanton?
Because Somerset Council has published no Article 4 records to it at all. The council's own register shows two directions: one covering the conservation area, confirmed in 2010, and one covering land at Moor Lane, confirmed in 2006. Wincanton is listed first among the South Somerset conservation areas with directions in force, alongside Bruton, Castle Cary and two parts of Yeovil.
When Was the Wincanton Conservation Area Designated?
Official sources give three dates. The council's 2010 appraisal says it was first designated in 1973, the national dataset gives 12 April 1988, which appears to be a later boundary designation, and the appraisal refers to a boundary amended around 2010. That appraisal, published by South Somerset District Council, remains the current assessment.
How Many Flats Are There in Wincanton?
The town's own figure is not separately published. The only geography carrying the 2021 Census data is the Wincanton and Bruton ward, with 5,075 households and 689 flats, 13.6 per cent, of which 486 are purpose-built. Those figures include Bruton and the surrounding rural parishes, so they cannot be attributed to Wincanton alone.
Nearby Areas
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