Home planned on Ashfield alpaca farm likely to be refused over greenbelt concerns

The farm, to the west of Felley Alpacas, Felley Mill Lane, Underwood, is currently used to house 71 animals across 23 acres of countryside.

This includes sheep, alpacas and llamas, with some horses, chickens and ducks also kept on the land.

Plans were submitted last year to build a two-bedroom home so an agricultural worker can live permanently on-site.

However, Ashfield Council’s planning committee is poised to turn down the plans amid council officers’ concerns about the impact on the greenbelt.

It comes after 29 objections were raised to the plans on the council’s planning portal, including the impact on the countryside, the home being at the top of a hill and the area becoming “built-up”.

Similar concerns have been raised by council planning officers.

They are recommending councillors turn down the plans, over concerns the home would be “harmful” to the greenbelt, when the council’s planning committee meets on December 14.

In documents, officers said: “It is considered the proposal would represent an inappropriate form of development within the greenbelt.”

In the application, applicant Debbie Roe said: “Animal husbandry responsibilities impose a round-the-clock requirement, to ensure an appropriate level of animal welfare and secure animal and farm equipment security from farm management and crime prevention points of view.

“Being able to attend to difficulties promptly by being within sight and sound of all livestock will mean a distressed animal can be assisted immediately.”

She also submitted business accounts and statements to “demonstrate the essential need to live on-site permanently” – proving the home is needed to improve the business may give the plans more weight when attempting to build on the greenbelt.

However, the authority says the “enterprise fails to provide a reasonable return on labour and therefore is considered not to be financially viable”, because the “predominant income” is alpaca trekking, rather than breeding, and “would not necessarily require someone to live on-site permanently”.

However, the council adds temporary permission could be granted for a mobile home on-site for a period of time, which could allow the applicant to “expand the business” and gather evidence to show the new home is viable.