A public inquiry into planning permission for polytunnels at a medium-sized farm in Herefordshire is set to open next week.
Pennoxstone Court, which is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty, has up to 30 hectares on polytunnels on the site at any time.
Owner Neil Cockburn was served with an enforcement notice by the local planning authority in February, ordering the removal of all the polytunnels on the farm within 60 days.
The business appealed against the order and a full public enquiry was scheduled for November 6-9.
Cockburn told FPJ that the public inquiry was a matter of “life and death” for the business. “We are a long-established business, based on the site for 28 years, and we have had polytunnels on the farm for 15 years. This could put us out of business - it is not possible to grow strawberries and raspberries for the market without the use of polytunels,” he said. “It is crucially important.”
Cockburn said there was an “outside chance” that the enforcement order would be withdrawn by the council in the next few days.
“The difference between this farm and other farms is that this is our only site we have and, if we cannot have polytunnels here, it will kill our business,” he added.
Nick Marston, managing director of Berry Gardens, told FPJ: “Neil has farmed at Pennoxstone Court for many years and has been using polytunnels on the site since the mid-1990s. In recent times, Herefordshire planners appear to have changed their view on planning permission required for the use of polytunnels. We hope that the planning officer will take a sympathetic view on granting planning permission for the use of polytunnels for this medium-sized farm, which is absolutely dependent on them.”
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