Change of use of land for stationing of caravans to provide 1 no. residential mobile home for agricultural workers employed in free range egg production.

The Principal Planning Officer gave a presentation on the application.

In accordance with the criteria for public speaking, Mrs. Willis spoke in support of the application.

In accordance with paragraph 4.8.2.2 of the Council’s constitution, Councillor JS Stone, the local ward member, commented on a number of issues, including:

·               Attention was drawn to the planning history of the site, including a number of enforcement issues that had arisen.

·               It was understood that other letters had been submitted but these were not indicated in the report.

·               A comment was made about the length of time taken to reach this stage; the application had been received in July 2009.

·               The application needed to be considered on its planning merits, the principal policies relevant to the application being H8 (Agricultural and forestry dwelling and dwellings associated with rural businesses) and PPS7 (Sustainable development in rural areas).

·               It was noted that the County Land Agent accepted that there was a functional need for on site accommodation and the Planning Inspector (on an earlier enforcement appeal) had commented that it would be desirable for someone to be close to livestock at all times if the development of an egg production unit occurred.

·               It was also noted that the visual impact of the development was limited and not sufficient to warrant refusal of the application.

·               Councillor Stone commented that, if the committee was minded to approve temporary permission, the applicant needed to abide by the conditions.

In response to questions from members about the functional requirement for this proposal, the Principal Planning Officer commented on animal welfare issues and, given the relatively isolated position of the site, on site accommodation would enable any related emergencies to be dealt with immediately.  In response to another question, the Principal Planning Officer advised that right of access was a civil matter and not a material planning consideration.

A number of members did not consider that the functional requirement for on site accommodation had been demonstrated given the scale of the enterprise and felt unable to support the application.  However, other members considered that the policy criteria had been met on balance.

The Head of Development Management advised that a temporary permission was recommended to enable the authority to assess the continued need for the development.  The Principal Planning Officer clarified issues in relation to the planning history of the site.

Some members commented on the need to support sustainable local businesses.  It was emphasised that, given the retrospective nature of the application and issues with earlier developments, the applicant had to comply with all the conditions required.

In accordance with the Council’s constitution, the local ward member was given the opportunity to close the debate.  Councillor Stone commented on the need to balance the various points raised for and against the development, welcomed the use of renewable energy sources, and noted that temporary permission provided an opportunity to review the impact of the development.

RESOLVED

That planning permission be granted subject to the following conditions:

1       F22 Temporary permission & reinstatement of land (mobile home/ caravan) – 3 years.

2       F27 Agricultural occupancy.

3       The permission hereby granted is specifically for the siting of two co-joined units as defined by Section 13(1) of the Caravan Site Act 1968.

Reason: In order to define the terms of this permission and to comply with Policies H8 and H11 of the Herefordshire Unitary Development Plan.