A controversial dispute over plans by a Lanchester couple to transform their farming business has been resolved after planners gave them the green light.
The news will see ambitions by local farmer Tony White and his wife Norma to have a permanent residential dwelling on their mixed arable and cattle enterprise come to fruition.
The move will lead to the development of a new farmhouse on land at Dunleyford Farm on Humberhill Lane as the Whites look to build a more sustainable business in the face of changes to EU farming subsidies, which currently support hundreds of local farmers.
Despite years of wrangling, Joe Ridgeon, associate at North East-based Hedley Planning Services, has steered through a planning application to secure approval.
He worked with Adam Barrass of chartered surveyors Vickers & Barrass to present a detailed supporting case to overcome these concerns. They resolved the issues, demonstrating that the business was sustainable and growing, and that there was an essential need.
Unlike previous applications, they also established that there was sufficient flexibility within the business model to ensure the business would remain viable. The council approved the application with a suitably worded condition to ensure sufficient grazing land would always be provided for the cattle.
A permanent home is set to replace an existing mobile one, which has served the site for several years, while landscaping improvements will contribute to the scheme.
Joe Ridgeon said that diversification projects can takes years to come to fruition, so other farmers looking to secure planning permission and implement changes should now be considering their options.
He added: “This has been a difficult case, with a history of previous appeal dismissals, so securing planning permission from the council is great news. As farming businesses look to plan for future changes to subsidies we expect to see an increase in diversification projects.”
Adam Barrass said: “The Government has guaranteed the same level of subsidy funding through to 2022 and will continue to support the current schemes in the meantime. However, looking ahead, it is expected that there will be a new environmental scheme that will offer ‘public money for public goods’.
“Although it is likely to be another few years before this scheme will be available, farmers should be looking at their business now to ensure it will be resilient in the face of subsidy reductions.”
