A rural business that has specialised in motorcyle repairs alongside work on small engine vehicles and equipment for almost a quarter of a century has been told it must pack up and clear the site.

Chapel Cottage at Playley Green, just outside Redmarley, has been run by former European Grasstrack Championship motorcyclist Clayton Williams. The business initially traded as Willpower Racing Ltd but  operated since 2018 as a sole trader. Last autumn, Mr WIlliams was forced to submit plans for the existing operation, which he told planners has traded by word of mouth and reputation.

Forest of Dean District Council has now ruled against the business, deciding that it falls foul of the burden of proof being on evidence provided to show more than ten years of operation (as mandated in section 191 of the Town and Country Planning Act).

Documents on the decision reveal that controversy over the site, which borders the A417, stems back to a dispute over the change of use of the 1.4 hectare plot for the business in 2005 when, subsequent to a purchase of land for the work, a wall was erected on an adjacent field. The retrospective application at that time was then granted. 

Ruling on its latest decision, an officer report stated: "This 1.4 hectare site consists of a field, a residential dwelling, an outbuilding that takes the form of a garage with a side store, a garden cabin with an open shelter, a log store, two shipping containers, and a greenhouse. At the time of the site visit, there were numerous vehicles within the field including old tractors, a lorry and cars. The site is located outside of any settlement boundary and is approximately 740m from the settlement boundary of the village of Redmarley."

Along with retrospective permission on the site for a garden cabin and an open shelter in 2010, two further bids in 2016 and 2017 for residential development were refused, as well as a request in 2021 for caravan and motorhome pitches, which was thrown out on appeal last August.

Investigations from FoDDC also established that there was no evidence of business rates being paid at the site since the date when work was claimed to have begun there, in at least 2000, but the applicant claimed that "due to the size of the premises... the threshold for payment of business rates is not exceeded".

Support for the business to stay is shown by several statements from neighbours and nearby residents.

Will Windsor-Clive, of Bury Court, told planners: "Mr Williams purchased the land prior to 2010, he added, from the neighbouring farmer."

He said: "[The land] has been unviable, because of its small size and being totally surrounded by road, to be used for agriculture since then. Since Mr Williams has owned it (and prior to his ownership) it has only been used as amenity land by him and his family, with motorbiking and general usage including bonfire nights."

Various vehicles had been kept on the land from at least 2010, he added. "These include old tractors (kept as a hobby rather than for farming), a lorry and various decrepit four-wheel drives have resided there for many years - the lorry has been used locally for events at the school and the local pub but otherwise has resided on the land for many years.

"I also know it to be a fact that Mr Williams has a business that he operates from Chapel Cottage repairing motorbikes and lawnmowers. This has been going on for at least as long as the purchase of the land from Mr Stallard, and most probably longer."

Natural England's West Midland team and Gloucestershire's Highways Authority also stated that they had no objection to the proposed business.

However, after researching aerial images to trace activity at the site and considering the applicant's statements, FoDDC has now ruled against the business, stating: "In light of the evidence available, it is concluded that it has not been demonstrated that on the balance of probability the use claimed has taken place to the degree and frequency that would constitute a material chance of use for a period of in excess of ten years; the evidence found within the planning history, along with the visual appearance of the site (now and historically) contradict the information provided by the applicant and make the applicant's version of events less than probable."

Punchline-Gloucester.com has been unable to contact the applicant; it is unknown whether the business will appeal.