New mobile home is allowed on farm

»» A 40-year-old mobile home on a farm in North Cornwall can be replaced with a new one even though the location is not actually classed as a settlement, councillors have decided.

Planning officers had advised members not to renew farmer Lilian Budge’s permission to retain the mobile home at Lane End in the hamlet of Kingbeare, near Launceston, when it came before a committee on Monday of last week.

The parish council and local residents had claimed it was “vitally important” it stayed.

A condition in the original 1994 planning approval stated permission would end when its occupant, Doreen Soady, was no longer living in the mobile home, which would then have to be removed. Mrs Soady has since died and the home is empty.

Mrs Budge is paying double council tax on the mobile home and wants to replace it with a more modern one.

Officers said that would create a new dwelling in an “unsustainable location” in an area which was not recognised as a settlement.

North Hill Parish Council supported the application, confirming the site had been in residential use for more than 40 years and provided a valuable contribution to the delivery of housing in the parish.

Local councillor Adrian Parsons, who opposed the officer’s recommendation, said further income streams for struggling farmers should be allowed where possible “to allow our businesses to survive”.

Cllr Barry Jordan responded: “This is very difficult. The unit is not being used and is falling down, and they want to put a brand-new mobile home in there.

“To me, that is wrong.” However, the application was approved on the grounds that there would be no planning harm on previously developed land.