Agricultural occupancy clause dropped from cottage

Robert Cullen applied to Herefordshire Council in August for a certificate of lawfulness regarding The Bungalow, Trehumfrey Farm, Llangarron west of Ross-on-Wye.

The certificate was to confirm that a condition on the original 1960s planning approval for the house, which required it to be occupied only by someone working in farming and their dependents, was no longer enforceable as it had been breached for over ten years.

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Indeed Kevin Marsh and his late wife had lived there since 2000 without either having worked in farming or forestry while there, his application said – and was accompanied by a declaration by Mr Marsh to this effect.

Mr Cullen’s application said his evidence, which also included a tenancy agreement and various official correspondence, was “unequivocal” in showing the occupancy had been “continuous, open, and without concealment for a period well in excess of ten years”.

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Planning officer Joshua Evans has now agreed that “on balance, the evidence provided is considered sufficient to demonstrate that the occupants of the property do not and have not worked in agriculture or forestry”.

With no evidence to the contrary having been submitted during the consultation period, the evidence put forward by Mr Cullen “is considered sufficient to pass the ‘balance of probabilities test’ that the agricultural occupancy condition for a period of time in excess of ten years”.

The council therefore “has no option but to issue a certificate of lawfulness”, Mr Evans concluded.