Farmer to lodge appeal over retirement home on his own land

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A farmer is appealing a decision to refuse him permission to build a house on his own land so he can retire.

Councillors turned down an application by 82-year-old Ken Lister to build the property so he could “live out his days” on his family-run farm in Thorpe Audlin, near Pontefract.

Mr Lister told a planning committee meeting last December how he had lived and worked at Manor Farm all his life.

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The scheme includes demolishing old chicken sheds at the 200-acre livestock and arable farm to build a three-bedroom property off Causeway Garth Lane.

Farmer Ken Lister is to appeal against a decision to refuse him planning permission to build a house on his own land so he can retire.Farmer Ken Lister is to appeal against a decision to refuse him planning permission to build a house on his own land so he can retire.
Farmer Ken Lister is to appeal against a decision to refuse him planning permission to build a house on his own land so he can retire.

But Wakefield Council planning officers said the proposed development was “inappropriate” and breached greenbelt regulations.

Officers said the site was classed as a greenbelt as it falls outside of the village boundary, away from most of the housing in Thorpe Audlin.

Mr Lister claimed the scheme met the “very special circumstances” required to build on protected land as houses and buildings already surround the site.

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Councillors narrowly voted in favour of a recommendation to reject the plan, by a majority of five to three.

Planning officers recommended that Ken Lister's plan to demolish chicken sheds at his farm in Thorpe Thorpe Audlin to build a house be refused.Planning officers recommended that Ken Lister's plan to demolish chicken sheds at his farm in Thorpe Thorpe Audlin to build a house be refused.
Planning officers recommended that Ken Lister's plan to demolish chicken sheds at his farm in Thorpe Thorpe Audlin to build a house be refused.

Mr Lister said he had instructed an agent to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate after contacting his local MP Jon Tickett.

Mr Trickett, MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, wrote to the council on Mr Lister’s behalf following the decision but the authority said a formal appeal needed to be made.

Mr Lister told the Local Democracy Reporting Service : “I still think this was a ridiculous decision and will keep on fighting to get it overturned.

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“At the same meeting, they approved an application for more than 200 houses to be built in Knottingley, despite over 100 objections, without anyone hardly saying anything about it.

“They are tearing up the greenbelt all over this district to build housing estates.

“Mine was refused over a silly technicality. No would even notice if it was built.

“I’m sure there are similar sites like mine all over the place that could be used to help meet housing needs.”

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Speaking at the meeting last year, Mr Lister told councillors: “I have lived and farmed in Thorpe Audlin since I could walk.

“The farm has been in my family for 87 years.

“Over recent years I have seen the village grow with lots of new residential development dotted around the village.

“This application is for a new house on my land for my long-awaited retirement.

“It is not a speculative application. I am not trying to get a profit on this.

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Mr Lister said he planned to move into the property so his daughter could take over the running of the farm.

He added: “I am a long-standing resident of the village and this property will let me live out my days within the village that has been my home throughout my life.”

Committee member Steve Tulley voted against the officer recommendation.

He said: “If this planning committee didn’t exist nobody would be any the wiser if one property had been taken down and another built in its place. He’s not building a three-storey windmill.

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“It will be built in the same style as surrounding properties. I’m struggling to see how it doesn’t connect with the rest of Thorpe Audlin.”

A decision notice issued by the council said: “The application site is not considered to be located within a village, and the proposed dwelling within the greenbelt would therefore represent inappropriate

development.

“The material considerations put forward in support of the development are considered not to amount to very special circumstances”.

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