Agenda item

Proposed agricultural barn. (As amended by drawing re-siting the building and amplified by supporting information received 8 November 2023).

The committee considered planning application P23/S2689/FUL for the proposed agricultural barn (as amended by drawing re-siting the building and amplified by supporting information received 8 November 2023), on land at Ten Acre Farm, New Inn Road, Beckley.  

Consultations, representations, policy and guidance, and the site’s planning history were detailed in the officer’s report, which formed part of the agenda pack for the meeting. 

The planning officer introduced the report and highlighted that the application was brought to the committee due to the objection of Beckley and Stowood Parish Council.

The planning officer informed the committee that there had been some corrections made to the report since the publishing of the agenda. These corrections included that; hay was actually moved onto site and was not derived from the site, that reference in paragraph 6.14 to grain should be hay, and that references to the National Planning Policy Framework had been altered due to it being recently updated. 

The application itself sought permission for an agricultural building for the storage of hay and farming equipment for a farmer. Although the site was located in the Green Belt, the planning officer informed the committee that agricultural buildings are specifically excluded from prohibitions on building in those areas and so the principle of development was accepted. He also emphasised that a proposed condition on the approval of the application was to ensure that the building would only ever be used for the agricultural purposes described in the application.

On the building itself, as it was sited next to a larger agricultural building, the planning officer believed that it would have a minimal impact on the local landscape.

Overall, as the application was policy compliant and there were no objections from technical consultees, the planning officer recommended that the application be approved.

Gareth Jones, the agent representing the applicant, spoke in support of the application. 

Councillor Tim Bearder, a local ward councillor, spoke in support of the application. 

Councillor Ginette Camps-Walsh spoke on behalf of Beckley and Stowood Parish Council, objecting to the application. 

The committee asked about the need for the barn and the planning officer clarified there is no test about the need for a building. However, he clarified that the land was in agricultural use and that the building was supposed to assist a local farmer who worked on a number of farms in the area. On the issue that the parish council raised about there being no farming done on the site, the planning officer confirmed to the committee that there was agricultural equipment on the site and at one point he had seen livestock on the site. Therefore, he believed that the application was appropriate and that that it would not change the sites use.

On another point the parish council made, about the farmer using other barns in the area, the member agreed that, for the storage of hay and the security of farm machinery, the other barns in the area would not be effective for this. The planning officer also added that the demolished barns to the northwest of the site would also not be able to offer the same provision as the one proposed in the application.

On a question about if the approval of the application could include conditions requiring the clean-up of the site or for the site to be levelled, the planning officer clarified that this could not be imposed as a condition as he did not believe it would meet the required six tests for conditions. He also clarified a point about land ownership which the parish council had mentioned and that, although the line had changed on the amended plans, it was not materially relevant to the committees’ decisions.

The committee agreed that they would like the inclusion of another bird box on the site, and that this be included as a condition on approval in order to encourage wildlife. As the applicant was agreeable, it was agreed to include this in the conditions.

Overall, as the committee could see no material planning reasons to refuse the application, they agreed that it should be approved subject to conditions. 

A motion, moved and seconded, to approve the application was carried on being put to the vote. 

RESOLVED: to approve planning application P23/S2689/FUL, subject to the following conditions:

Standard conditions:

1. Commencement 3 years - Full Planning Permission

2. Approved plans

Prior to commencement condition:

3. Surface water drainage works (details required)

Compliance conditions:

4. Materials as on plan

5. Agricultural use

Prior to first use condition:

6. Two bird boxes