Widow ‘not farmer’ despite keeping ‘hobby’ cattle

The farming occupancy condition at a cottage in a scenic Herefordshire spot has been breached since last century, it’s claimed – despite its owners keeping Highland cattle as a hobby.

A condition with the planning permission enabling building of the house at Quarry Farm near Dorstone in the Golden Valley in 1986 restricted its occupancy “to a person solely or mainly employed in the locality in agriculture or forestry, including any dependants, or a widow or widower of such a person”.

But since 1999 the house, given on official maps as Cwm Derw, has been occupied by a Mr and Mrs Handley, neither of whom worked on the land, according to Mrs Handley’s application to Herefordshire Council (number 251531) for a certificate of lawfulness to this effect.

Under planning law, enforcement cannot be brought against a breach of condition if this has continued for over ten years – but the burden of proof is on the applicant to establish this.

Accompanied by evidence including bills, work invoices and a sworn statement from a neighbour, the application says that Mr Handley, who passed away last year, had “always” worked as a carpenter, while Mrs Handley “has mainly been a housewife, her last employment as a florist ending in 2005”.

While the couple kept up to 35 Highland cattle on the adjoining 40 acres of “steep” land, this “was as a hobby” rather than employment, it being “not a sustainable business model”.

And even though Mrs Handley is a member of the Highland Cattle Society, she and “many” other members are “hobby farmers who in reality are only enthusiasts and not real farmers”, helped by the breed being “quite easy to keep”, her application says.

Comments on it can be made until July 1, with a decision on it due by the end of the same month.