Wedding budgets can go through the roof, but a fairytale planning bid in the idyllic Cotswold hamlet of Harescombe promises to keep the bride and groom's budget firmly underground.

A Cotswold holiday let venue at 168-acre Grade-II listed Hayes Farm, near Haresfield, is seeking permission to convert a Dutch barn, add a minigolf area and landscape adjacent land – while adding a fantasy-style hobbit house.

Stroud-based consultants Acre Planning, who are handling the bid before planning officers, say the project is likely to come in at between £300,000 and £400,000 and will represent the final stage of five existing property lets at the upmarket venue.

Director Tim Brookman said: "The hobbit house should be a real inspiration, not least because it will be just below a very old tree, beneath which Beatrix Potter is said to have lingered while seeking inspiration."

In 1894 Beatrix Potter visited her cousin, Caroline Hutton, at nearby Harescombe Grange, the visit inspiring her tale The Tailor of Gloucester.

The hobbit house is proposed to sit within an existing slope on land and be used solely in conjunction with wedding events. 

"The one-room building would be cut into the hill and sheltered by the surrounding ground. The roof would be grassed, meaning only the front elevation would be visible. The front elevation would include a round timber door, window and a natural stone wall," the proposal outlines.

"The building would be used as the focal point for wedding ceremonies, with the room used by couples to sign the register in private. Given the unique nature of the building and the setting, it would be used for wedding photographs as a focal point within the site."

The bid, which involves change of use from agricultural to amenity use for the Dutch barn, also outlines an orchard, an attenuation pond with a six-hole surrounding minigolf course and extra parking.

Guest capacity for the barn would allow 64 seated with 80 as a maximum. For other 'standing' events, a maximum number of 120 is anticipated, while three-day weekend events woud require parking for 32 cars, with standing events requiring spaces for 48.

The site lies within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty AONB, while the quaint Saint John the Baptist Church, built in 1315, is within walking distance. The church houses the oldest working bell in Gloucestershire.