Council rejects plan for Whitby ‘hobby farm’ despite support from neighbours and residents

The proposal by Daniel Knaggs to build a large building for hobby farming has been refused by for a second time.

The authority said that the building, which would have housed livestock, feed and bedding, was “not compatible with the surrounding landscape” and raised concerns about an impact on amenity.

The site, at 3 Eskdale Close, in Sleights, is located next to the English Martyrs’ Roman Catholic Church and the North York Moors National Park.

The proposal received no objection from the parish council or the Highway Authority and neighbours sent seven letters of support to the council.

One resident said: “The council should be supporting the use for British farming, with the applicants breeding high-quality livestock and need facilities to support this, which has a positive impact on the area and countryside as a whole.”

Another supporter wrote: “The proposal is small in scale, will enhance the area, and should not have an impact on the neighbouring properties.”

The stone building would have been split into two distinct sections – a storage area and a sheep pen and lambing area.

A council report also noted that the “current and historic use of the site” is the keeping of animals for hobby purposes and that the applicant has around 10-12 pedigree ewes, as well as chickens and other animals.

However, officers stated that the plan did not comply with any particular part of its local plan because it did not relate to “rural business which would have been justified”.

It was also stated that there were “no other concerns” about an overbearing impact and officers said they “appreciated that seven letters of support have been received from neighbouring properties”.

A planning report notes that the authority considered attaching conditions to ensure that the amenity impacts were reduced to an appropriate level but concluded that “such conditions would be considered too onerous”.

North Yorkshire Council concluded that the plan was “unacceptable in principle [and] not in compliance” with its local plan policies and rejected the application.