Workers house bid rejected
Farmers hoping to build a house for agricultural workers at Thornhill have had their bid rejected despite Stirling Council planners acknowledging a need for the accommodation.
Mr and Mrs William Brewster submitted an application to build a house at Wester Boreland Farm on land 90 metres east of Bonnie Braes Cottage.
However, council planners have refused the proposal saying it would be in the wrong spot.
Four objections were lodged to the application. Among points made was that the location of the workers accommodation should be adjacent to the existing farm operations for farm security reasons and to provide supervision of the animals, and the location house would interrupt the open landscape.
The council’s Transport Development Team said they did not support the proposal in its current form which also did not sufficiently demonstrate that requirements for a safe form of access could be achieved - and it is unclear how direct access from the A873 would be precluded as currently this access is unsafe and visibility is obstructed.
In their decision, council planners said:“the applicant has lived at Wester Borland Farm since 1959 and took over the running of the farm from his father in the early 1990s. His son has joined the family business and six years ago the family made a significant investment and commitment by re-entering the dairy industry and built a brand-new milking parlour and tank house.
“Wester Borland farm extends to 174 hectares of owned land with a further 20 hectares of rented land. The farming system comprise of a dairy herd, a sheep flock, cereals and grass production.
“Currently the labour on the farm consists of three full time members - the applicant and his son plus an employee.
“The farming of animals is intensive, needing constant close supervision and management 365 days a year. Having the farmer and/or farm worker living on farm in close proximity is critical to ensure the business can operate and all animal welfare and health and safety concerns are addressed.”
The planners said a labour requirement report had calculated the need on the farm to be 8.5 labour units.
“The stated figures show that the labour requirements for this highly productive business are extensive but this does not include administrative duties’ such as bookkeeping and quality assurance.
“From an agricultural perspective, the business is a highly productive and is intensive requiring many hours of labour to return a profitable business. It is evident that this business is progressive and has been heavily invested in.”