Devizes estate agent Martin Walker has hit another setback in his plan to make a family home out of a derelict cottage in Little Cheverell, near Devizes.

Michael Maxwell who, like Mr Walker, lives in Little Cheverell, succeeded on Friday in getting a High Court judge to grant permission for a judicial review of Wiltshire Council’s decision to allow Mr Walker to demolish Copsewood, also known as the Pink Cottage.

Mr Walker wants to build a similarly designed family home in its place.

The battle to save Copsewood, which dates in part to 1722, has gone on since May 2009 when Wiltshire Council’s eastern area planning committee granted Mr Walker permission for his scheme.

But objectors, led by Mr Maxwell, succeeded in getting the High Court to quash the decision. The application went back to the planning committee in January 2010 which again decided in Mr Walker’s favour.

Parish councillor Michael Brain told the committee: “The house lacks foundation and has no insulation. There’s nothing worth preserving.”

But objectors, including the Wiltshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, insisted that the cottage has historic value and cited the opinion of Wiltshire Council’s own conservation officer, who recommended refusal of the application.

CPRE chairman John Kirkman said: “We objected to the demolition because we believed it was a cottage worthy of being saved. It should be refurbished rather than demolished.”

Mr Maxwell said it was wrong to demolish a cottage when the planning committee accepted it makes a positive contribution to the Little Cheverell conservation area.

He added: “To replace the cottage with a new building which has no intrinsic historic value in terms of architectural merit or historical association is irrational.”

Mr Walker said he had refrained from taking any action to demolish the building until the legal process is over. He said: “I’m not in this for profit or reward. I just want to make a nice home for my family.”