Neighbouring bungalows both breached planning condition

Two rural Herefordshire bungalows have not housed farmers for over a decade, despite that being a condition of their being built back in the 1970s.

An application to Herefordshire Council (number 260454) seeks a certificate of lawfulness confirming that the breach, at The Hollies and The Quarries, Bromwell Farm, west of the A49 at Hope under Dinmore, has gone on for more than ten years so can’t be enforced.

Planning permission for the two was granted in 1972 on condition they only house local workers in farming or forestry, their dependants, widows or widowers.

According to a much-redacted covering letter with the application, unnamed married couples not engaged in farming took up residence in The Quarries in May 2012 and in The Hollies in August 2013.

It points out that, under planning law, no enforcement action may be taken to address a breach of planning control after ten years have passed since the breach.

The couple in The Quarries worked as a taxi driver and supermarket worker, while its tenant, since last December, was also not employed in agriculture, according to accompanying documents.

Meanwhile the couple who occupied The Hollies were an administrator and a retired gardener.

A declaration by applicant David Legge says The Quarries has not been occupied in compliance with the occupancy condition “since at least May 2012” and that this has also been the case with The Hollies since at least August 2013.

Applications of this sort are usually granted unless evidence to contradict them is submitted during consultation.

The closing date for comments in this case is not given, but the target date to determine it is May 1.