Temporary structures and accommodation vital for the production and harvest of UK strawberries are the subject of a planning dispute in Surrey that could have ramifications for the sector nation-wide in the UK.
Strawberry grower Hall Hunter Partnership is expected to become the subject of enforcement action to remove 45 mobile homes, engineering works and polytunnels from its Tuesley Farm site at Milford in Surrey. Waverley Borough Council told freshinfo that a sub-committee gave the green light to the action as the development at the 469-acre site as it deemed planning permission was required. "HHP has not submitted a planning application and has indicated that they do not intend to do so," said a council spokeswoman. "Officers have made it clear for more than six months that an application is necessary. Members felt the council had no choice but to take action to prevent continuing harm." She told freshinfo that HHP "would receive some kind of notification" about the enforcement this week.
As polytunnel production in the UK has increased in order to extend the season, so have the numbers of its critics. A development in the Vale of Evesham by was halted earlier this season once TV horticulturist Monty Don jumped on the band wagon and added his voice to calls for it to be scuppered.
If HHP is forced to remove or move its polytunnel structures and worker accommodation, then the issue is almost certain to become one of national concern, not just for soft-fruit producers, but also other growers housing their seasonal workers in mobile homes and using plastic structures in fields.
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