‘Babe’ farm to be turned into housing estate

♦ A farm that inspired Dick King-smith’s popular children’s book The Sheep Pig, which was adapted into the film Babe, is to be turned into a housing estate after a council was overruled.

The writer owned Woodlands Farm in Coalpit Heath, near Bristol, for 14 years after he bought the land in 1948, fulfilling his dream of being a farmer.

Developers applied to build 215 homes on the farm but were rejected on the grounds that the site was of “cultural importance”. But the ruling was overturned by the planning inspector.

Juliet King-smith, the author’s daughter, said she was “sad and disappointed” about the ruling but added that she was “not surprised”.