PLANS for a new agricultural storage building at a Stretton farm have been approved – despite strong opposition from local councillors.
The scheme was put forward by Mr Jack Thwaites at Stretton View Farm, Mosshall Lane, Stretton.
Borough council planning officers approved the scheme on the grounds that an agricultural building is appropriate in the Green Belt, that the building was in character with the rural character of the area and that highways access was already in place.
Appleton Parish Council had objected to the scheme. They claimed the application did not merely represent a simple request for an agricultural building in the Green Belt and that the complex planning history of the farm needed to be considered.
The numerous applications and continued development of the farm amounted to piecemeal major development, materially harmful to the openness of the Green Belt.
Need for the building had yet to be proven and farming equipment would be stored at another barn on the farm. The farming business had not expanded to warrant an additional building and existing barns were sufficient to service the agricultural needs of the farm.
But planning officers said the proposed building would be located within a cluster of existing farm buildings and would be unobtrusive.
