New base on farm will help 'burnt-out' emergency staff

A Herefordshire farm has been given permission to turn disused cottage and barn into a base for a mental wellbeing charity helping members of the emergency services and armed forces.

The buildings at Mosewick Farm, Longley Green, within the Malvern Hills area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB), will become a centre for treating workers’ “burnout” and boosting their mental health resilience, according to the application by a Mr D Deuchar on behalf of a new charity, Reset.

The converted barn will house a conference room, meeting rooms and break-out space as well as toilets and a kitchen.

The “dilapidated” Harp Cottage, not occupied since the 1960s, is to be taken down and rebuilt from the existing timber and brickwork, for use as offices, staff room and toilet.

The emphasis of the charity’s work, overseen by the University of Worcester, will be on supporting West Midlands Ambulance Service workers, as such support “is already available for other service areas, including the police and the fire”, the application says.

It adds that it is in the charity’s interest that the buildings “integrate into the wider landscape setting and make the most of (their) heritage value”.

The plan brought no objections from consultees, though it did appear in conflict with county policy on re-use of rural buildings, which is that these should be “capable of conversion without major or complete reconstruction”, the council’s planning officer Josh Bailey noted.

But he concluded that this was outweighed by the council’s “continued commitment to addressing the needs of, and support opportunities for, armed forces and emergency services personnel, and to conserving heritage assets of local value”.