Wine tasting next to churchyard is grave mistake say residents

A ROW has erupted between a vineyard and villagers after it was given permission to hold wine tastings near the parish church’s graveyard.

Ashford borough council granted an alcohol licence to Nine Oaks Vineyard, in Hothfield, despite receiving 13 letters of objection from neighbours who feared visitors would disturb mourners.

Resident Jennifer Boorman warned that “families visiting graves would be greatly disturbed by people drinking, laughing and generally making a lot of noise”.

After permission was granted at a March 26 licensing meeting, Simon Brock, one of the parish councillors, said: “The area of the church that is closest to the licensable area is where most recent burials are… so there could be a potential conflict between a happy event one side of the fence and a sad event on the other.”

The three-hectare vineyard has been owned by husband and wife vintners Martyn Pollock and Helen Matheson-pollock since 2020.

Mrs Matheson-pollock told The Telegraph that St Margaret’s Church was “situated well away from our boundaries” and that the vineyard would liaise with Rev Sandra Marsh, the rector, to avoid clashing with funerals. “Because of the licensable area there is flexibility in terms of where we host events,” she said.

“A neighbouring piece of land is in the process of being sold which includes a six-metre access track that runs from our gate down the side of the vineyard and will mean that we will no longer border the graveyard, [because] there will be a six metre wide buffer between the two properties.”

She added: “We are aware of the regular services as per the church’s website and will factor these in when we put forward a schedule for bookable tours and tastings and have committed to being as sensitive and responsive as possible if other events arise.”

Mr Pollock and Mrs Matheson-pollock initially applied for a licence to sell alcohol from 10am to 10pm every day. They later amended this to 10am to 6pm from Thursdays to Sundays.

The council granted the licence with conditions, including that all alcohol consumption was supervised by staff and that the council will be told about any large events.