Bucklebury Farm Park can officially open all year round

Councillors support retrospective application but ask operators to "work within planning laws" in the future

BUCKLEBURY Farm Park has been accused of “ploughing its own furrow” by asking to open outside of restricted hours – even though it has been doing so for the last seven years.

The farm park asked West Berkshire Council to remove a restriction, in force since it opened in the 1990s, on its months of operation.

The condition, put in place by the then Newbury District Council, meant that the park was only allowed to open between March and October.

The condition was to protect the amenity of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in which the park is located.

In a statement to planners this year, the farm park said that it had been operating during the winter since 2002 and that its opening season had run until December 23 (reopening in February) since at least 2008, without complaint.

Commenting on the recent application, AONB board members, while not objecting, raised concerns about the implications of granting unrestricted opening.

West Berkshire Council also received four letters of objection from nearby residents, concerned about increased traffic and noise.

They also fear that the unrestricted opening hours could see the farm park become a theme park under a future operator.

Council planners dismissed these fears, however, saying that an application for a change of use would be needed.

Objectors also said that equipment, such as a zip wire, had been installed without planning permission.

The farm park argued that the structures were immune to enforcement action as they had been in place for more than four years.

The farm park is owned and run by Rupert Hartley Russell and his wife Elizabeth.

Speaking at a meeting of the council’s eastern area planning committee last week, Mrs Hartley Russell said: “We want to show children there’s more to winter than laptops, smart phones and Xboxs.

“We need to be open for more than nine months of the year for the sustainability of the business.”

Graham Bridgman (Con, Mortimer) asked why planning permission was not sought for equipment at the farm park and why it had been operating outside its restricted hours.

Mrs Hartley Russell replied: “I don’t think my husband saw it as a restriction.

“It was more about what we wanted to do.”

She added that the farm park had adapted and grown to meet a growing demand.

Pointing to a number of retrospective applications granted to the farm park, Keith Chopping (Con Sulhamstead) said: “It indicates to me that you just plough your own furrow.”

He asked whether the farm park would stick to a new set of conditions if the application was approved, to which Mrs Hartley Russell agreed.

Alan Law (Con, Basildon) agreed with Emma Webster (Con, Birch Copse) that the farm park was a “regional and national treasure right on our doorstep”, and asked that the farm park work within planning laws in the future.

Councillors also heard from Bucklebury parish councillor Anne Hillerton who said that the parish council supported the application so that “this wonderful local resource can open all year round”.

Following councillors unanimously approving the plans, Mrs Hartley Russell said she was delighted with the support shown for the farm park.

“Opening all year round will enable us to grow the business in a way that is sustainable,” she said.

When asked why the council had not taken enforcement action against the farm park, council spokeswoman Peta Stoddart-Crompton said that the previous contraventions had not been “deemed expediant or necessary” to take action.

She said this was because there had been no detrimental impact on neighbours amenity or a significant visual impact on the area.