Farmer’s disabled mobile home appeal

A Herefordshire farmer’s case to install a wheelchair adapted mobile home for his son was heard by a planning inspector today.

Simon Cutter, who runs the Model Farm Shop in Hildersley, near Ross-on-Wye, had submitted plans to Herefordshire Council for his son George, who works there, to live onsite.

But council planners rejected the scheme last year because they deemed it to represent an unsustainable and unjustified residential development within an open countryside location contrary to the council’s core strategy.

Inspector Andrew Steen asked Mr Cutter what the reasons were for the housing need.

Mr Cutter explained that his home was 800 metres from the shop and that it would be so much easier for his son to get to work if he lived on site.

He said: “He can get in a car, but to do so he has to park his wheelchair next to it, he then slides over into the seat, he has to dismantle his wheelchair and stow it away in the car.

“He has to take the wheels off, the seat out and it folds up.

“So to get into the car it’s probably 10 or 15 minutes and then when he gets up to the shop he has to reverse all that for 10 to 15 minutes.

“And so, if he has to pop up there to let the couriers in or whatever it is almost half an hour for him which would be five minutes for us.”

Mr Cutter also said that the site had been targeted twice by burglars recently and it would be safer to have somebody on site.

“We just thought it was sensible, given the burglaries, and saving him time it would be better to apply for a residential unit.

“The farmhouse itself isn’t adapted for disabled living. It has a lift so he can go upstairs but none of the kitchen, fridges have been adapted.

“Whereas the caravan everything would be at low level and the storage is made for a wheelchair user.”

Carl Brace, council planning officer, explained that there was no national or local policy which would allow a housing development because of an exceptional personal need circumstance.

“I.e. whether they would be family, disabled or any special personal need that allows a dwelling,” he said.

“It is not a discriminatory policy, it’s just there is no exception policy in place at any level to allow that to be a caveat to the housing allocation and hierarchical approach that we adopt here, or any other authorities use, or the national planning policy framework uses.”

The inspector is expected to make a decision within the next few weeks.