Farmer given permission to build a new house on his land near Ilmington

A Warwickshire farmer has been given permission to build a new house on his land so that his farm manager and family can live on site.

The house will be at the entrance to Larkstoke Farm in Admington, near Ilmington, and was given the green light in spite of officers at Wednesday's Stratford District Council planning committee recommending that permission be refused.

They based that view on an independent report from an independent agricultural consultant who said that there was no need for someone other than the owner of the 3,600 acre arable farm to live on site.

But that view wasn’t shared by members of Admington Parish Council.

Chairman Cllr Sue Cooke insisted there was an essential need as the farmer wanted to share the responsibility with a manager.

She said: “The manager needs to be on site 24 hours a day to deal with emergencies.

“Grain storage and drying can be very dangerous and it is essential to have a manager on site to supervise the process and deal with any problems. During the height of the season, the loading and unloading of grain can take place until late at night.

“We do not support new housing lightly in our village but on this occasion we support the application. We were pleased to note that the applicant has agreed to our request for additional planting of trees and hedges in order to screen the building as much as possible from the road.”

Cllr Trevor Harvey (Con, Shipston North) disagreed and proposed that the plans be dismissed.

He said: “We are told that the one and only question we have to answer is does this application satisfy the ‘essential test’ that is required.

“We have had a report from an experienced agricultural consultant who has all the information and his report is very clear. He came to a very unequivocal answer and that was that the need was not met.”

But others on the planning committee thought security issues were important when considering the application.

Cllr John Fielding (Con, Red Horse) said: “Bearing in mind there are a lot of thefts going on in the countryside, the need for security is an important part. I can see the balance required for a new property. It is important that the property is well secured and guarded.

And Cllr Bill Fleming (Con, Bidford West and Salford) added: “I can't see any reason why we would refuse this as I see it as an essential need.”

Cllr Harvey’s proposal was defeated and an alternative one granting permission was approved by four votes to one with two councillors abstaining.