For:      Mr & Mrs Hill per Burton & Co, Lydiatt Place, Brimfield, Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 4NP

Ward: Hampton Court

The Principal Planning Officer reported the receipt of the following comments from the agent acting on behalf of the applicant:

There are no objections from the Parish Council or the Highways Authority and twelve letters of support have been submitted.

In accordance with the criteria for public speaking, Mr Hanson of Docklow & Hampton Wafer Parish Council and Mr Hill the applicant, spoke in favour of the application. 

Councillor KG Grumbley the Local Ward Member said that the applicant ran a twenty-four hour breakdown service to deal with the problems which were encountered by the local agricultural community with their farming equipment.  He needed to be on site in order to respond quickly to emergencies and at present he had to travel from Pembridge to his workshop to collect tools and replacement parts, and then onto a client.  This often involved a round-trip of over forty miles and during times of heavy demand such as harvesting, this was proving to be increasingly difficult.  The applicant also had stated that he needed a permanent presence on site to receive parts deliveries, security for the storage of those parts and to have an on-site office which was currently lacking.  Councillor Grumbley felt that there was flexibility within Policy H8 of the Herefordshire Unitary Development Plan (UDP) to help with assisting small but essential agricultural businesses such as this one.  He also felt that the point had been reached where there was a danger of loosing the business if permission was refused and that this would be to the considerable detriment of the agricultural community.  Granting the application would enable the applicant to achieve greater security and allow modest growth of the business.

Several Members of the Sub-Committee concurred with the views of the Local Ward Member and felt that there were sufficient material considerations for the application to be granted.  Councillor R Mills had some sympathy with the applicant but felt that there were several issues set out in the report which contradicted the grounds suggested for granting permission.  The Principal Planning Officer said that planning permission was refused in 2001 and lost on appeal and that in the view of the officers the circumstances had not changed to merit permission being granted.  The Development Control Manager also drew attention to the fact that a fundamental aim of the UDP was to protect the open countryside from unnecessary development.  The exceptional circumstances set out in Policy H8 included a clear need for accommodation for persons employed in agriculture, forestry, horticulture or other rural businesses but not the type of the applicant.  Notwithstanding theses views the Sub-Committee was of the view that there was sufficient scope for permission to be granted.

RESOLVED:

That    (i) The Northern Area Planning Sub-Committee is minded to approve the application under the provisions of Policy H8 of the Herefordshire Unitary Development Plan subject to any conditions felt to be necessary by the Development Control Manager, provided that the Head of Planning Services does not refer the application to the Planning Committee.

(ii)         If the Head of Planning Services does not refer the application to the Planning Committee, Officers named in the Scheme of Delegation to Officers be instructed to approve the application in consultation with the Local Ward Members and subject to such conditions referred to above.

[Note: Following the vote on this application, the Development Control Manager advised that he would refer the application to the Head of Planning Services.]