The Small Farm Future Blog

Some great news from Devon

Posted on April 8, 2013 | 1 Comment

Excellent news just in from mid-Devon – the planning inspector has allowed the appeal of the Ecological Land Co-op for all three of their smallholdings at Greenham Reach on which I posted in January with no unexpected conditions attached.

My delight at this outcome is mingled with anger that Mid Devon District Council spent an alleged £40,000 that they could presumably have devoted to something of actual use to their residents on contesting an application that their own planning officers had recommended for approval, while the dedicated people at the Ecological Land Co-op have had to devote a huge quantity of time, money and emotion into fighting for the simple right to farm a patch of land.

One of the council’s arguments was that the application would set a precedent for other similar ones. If only. The inspector rightly pointed out that each planning application is treated on its merits, so although this is great news for the Greenham Reach project, the sad fact is that people throughout the country will continue to have to fight their own long and lonely bureaucratic battles for the right to farm when they could be much more usefully employed actually farming.

I’ll post something on this blog in a while about my own long and lonely battle against Mendip District Council. But for now, let’s raise a glass to the Ecological Land Coop!