A Cotswold dairy farm that runs a farm shop with an emphasis on low-miles food production has been told it can't keep a farmworker's cabin which it built in a field with no planning permission.

Stroud District Council received a retrospective request for the mid-size two-bedroomed home last September, but following a case report, Middle Hall Farm in Eastington, which operates as both a farm shop business and a dairy farm, now faces the choice of appeal or demolition of the unit.

The business's website says that the farm, accessed off Middle Street, has been run for four generations by the Spencer family and is working to reduce chemical and pesticide use in a bid to offer food production "without reliance on big supermarket chains that put profits first". 

The worker's home, it said, was vital for close proximity to calving sheds; overall, the farm has a herd of 180 cows.

A case report revealed that a local objection had been made to the timber cabin on the grounds that it was in open countryside. A submitted design showed the cabin is built using cream coloured plastic cladding with an additional natural, feathered edge wood cladding finish. Along with access, parking has also been provided for two cars via a field gateway, at Cress Green, near Eastington.

SDC told Cheltenham-based Zesta Planning, acting on behalf of Mr Nick Spencer: "The proposal is in a countryside location outside the identified settlement development limit. Whilst the proposal has established that the proposed temporary rural workers dwelling is essential to the maintenance of a sustainable farming enterprise within the District, the position of the mobile home represents an encroachment and expansion of development away from the original farm buildings, contrary to policy CP15(ii) of the adopted Stroud District Local Plan (November 2015)."

The application had also been submitted "without any meaningful pre-application discussions", the report added.

In further notes from a site visit, SDC said: "The mobile home is positioned in the northern corner of a field approximately 138 metres to the north of the main farm buildings, alongside the boundary hedge. As well as the mobile home there is an attached lean-to timber structure which provides an office, a store and utility.

"A picket fence has been erected and a gravel pathway leads to the mobile home from the parking area adjacent to the access off Middle Street. Whilst the mobile home is well screened from the street by the boundary hedge, it is clearly visible from the public footpath (Eastington Footpath 70) that crosses through the site."

The report added: "It is understood that the worker, who rears the calves, previously lived in a privately rented property near the farm. When this ceased to be available, the mobile home was provided for the worker."

The council heard there was "a functional need for a rural worker to be permanently based on a site is so that there is somebody experienced to be able to deal quickly with emergency animal welfare issues that are likely to arise throughout the majority of the year and during the middle of the night, for example calving cows."

Ecology concerns has also not been addressed, the report said, adding: "The site sits within the core catchment zone for recreational pressure for the Cotswold Beechwoods SAC and the Severn Estuary SAC/SPA, which is afforded protection under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended). There is potential that, without appropriate mitigation, the proposed new dwelling could result in negative effects to this European site through increased recreational pressure.

Having identified additional mitigation measures considered necessary to address the uncertainty of the proposal, the council suggested the farm make a one-off S106 contribution per new dwelling to the Stroud District Council's avoidance mitigation strategy, stating: "the cost is £673 per new dwelling for the Cotswold Beechwoods SAC mitigation and £385 per new dwelling for the Severn Estuary SAC/SPA."

However, no offer of mitigation had been received with the application.

No decision is yet known on whether the farm will appeal. Punchline-Gloucester.com has approached the business for comment.