A controversial farm diversification venture that could see up to 140 wedding guests creating traffic congestion on a narrow lane should be approved despite dozens of residents raising concerns, planners have said.
Stuart and Catherine Tweddle’s move to create wedding venue on land at Sedgefield House at Ainderby Steeple, near Northallerton, is set to be considered by North Yorkshire Council on Thursday.
The meeting comes as North Yorkshire councillors consider what should constitute “farm diversification” and what represents the launch of an unrelated business in a rural area.
It also follows mounting concerns over swathes of the county’s farmland being turned over to other uses and food security, which has been heightened by recent supermarket supply shortages.
In application documents to change the use of the land, the couple said they converted buildings on the 60-acre farm into an events venue having decided “to make the farm viable we decided to shift the emphasis of the business away from farming into tourism and hospitality”.
However, launching the venue beside their approved glamping business last year sparked complaints from neighbours over noise and the couple being served a noise abatement notice.
In the planning papers the couple state “the farming community are facing unprecedented hardship”, and diversification schemes had been “brought into sharper focus as a result of the UK leaving the EU” and the loss of direct farming subsidies.
The couple wrote: “Taking into consideration the residents of Warlaby Lane and Ainderby Steeple, we made a conscious decision to keep any intensive rearing of livestock together with our haulage business and agricultural contracting away from Sedgefield House Farm.”
Alongside more than 20 letters of support, the National Farmers’ Union said with continuing structural changes to agricultural policy farmers must make business changes that make them more market focussed and provide business resilience.
Nevertheless, dozens of residents have claimed the venture is unsuitable at the farm because even with measures to limit the noise impact access to the site is narrow and uses a difficult junction at Warlaby.
One resident wrote: “The junction may not have data and a history of serious or fatal accidents as it is little used but residents do recall several accidents and a 400 per cent-plus increase in traffic will put peoples lives in danger.”
Another objector who runs a cattery added: “The animals in this area will simply not understand there is a wedding taking place they will just react
to the noise, cats in particular have sensitive hearing and are most active at dusk and dawn.”
Recommending the proposal be approved, an officers’ report to the meeting states the impact on other local business would not be harmful in terms of agents of change.
The report concludes: “The development will clearly result in a significant increase in traffic using the highway network in the vicinity of the application site which given the narrowness of the road could result in traffic congestion.
“Through consultation with the highway authority, it is considered that the proposals will not result in a severe impact on highway safety and on this basis the development is, subject to the construction of passing places, acceptable.”
Be the first to comment