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Devon cider building to build bigger

Friday, 8 October 2021 07:35

By Ollie Heptinstall, local democracy reporter

The entrance to Creedy Park (courtesy: Google Maps/LDRS)

Not everyone is saying cheers

An agricultural building for a cider company in the grounds of a historic Devon park has been granted, despite local opposition.

Permission was already in place for a new building at Creedy Park near Sandford in Mid Devon, but the owners of Sandford Orchards, whose apples come from the park, wanted something bigger than had previously been allowed.

Mid Devon District Council’s planning committee this week supported the larger building which will be used for timber storage.

The applicant, Barny Butterfield, said: “We make our living from growing apples in Creedy Park and turning them into cider. We are the only residents out of 14 households to make our living from the park and the only residents who’ll be able to see the building from our home.

“The orchard produces 500 tonnes of apples per year. From the apples, we make 40,000 barrels of cider which is two million pints. We use the pruning from the orchards and woodland in our biomass boiler at the cider mill.

“The new law in 2020 requires log biomass to be 20 per cent moisture – this can only be done by storing it inside.

“We have existing prior approval, as has been discussed, for a building which rather negates the issues about whether a building can go there because it will – it will just be too small if I don’t get permission for the building which we’re proposing on setting much further back.”

Existing ‘prior notification’ permission was already in place for a building measuring 22.5m x 12m with a height of 5.6m, but the company instead proposed a different larger building on the site measuring 36m x 10.6m with a height of 5.9m.

A report to the committee recommending refusal said the scheme had received nine letters of objection at the time of writing, with one in support. Concerns included adverse traffic impacts, the scale and location of the building, ecological impacts and noise and light pollution.

It said: “The local planning authority is of the opinion that by means of its scale, siting and design, the proposed building is unacceptable for this countryside location within the sensitive historic setting of Creedy Park which is on the local list for Historic Park and Garden.”

“Insufficient information has also been submitted to assess the potential harm to the two nearby listed buildings currently known as Kerswell Cottage and West Lodge. Therefore the proposal is considered to harm the character of the area without sufficient justification for the development.”

Objecting to the application, local resident Jo Poulton asked the committee to endorse the officer’s report and added: “We feel there must be more appropriate sites for this storage structure, which will not impact on irreplaceable heritage assets.”

A statement read out on behalf of Councillor Elizabeth Lloyd (Green, Sandford and Creedy), said: “There are trees and habitats in the park that are of a unique and important significance, and these have not been properly taken into account.”

Supporting the officer’s recommendation for refusal, Cllr Lloyd added that the proximity of the proposed building to nearby Grade II-listed buildings would cause a “detrimental visual impact” along with concerns about increased traffic.

But the other representative for the area, Councillor Margaret Squires (Conservative, Sandford and Creedy), said that although the proposed larger building was 30 centimetres higher, its position is set back at a lower level with trees behind, adding: “I don’t think the impact of that will be any greater than the prior notification building.”

Councillor Clive Eginton (Conservative, Taw Vale) said he was in favour of the application after deliberating over it: “Do we as a committee wish to support a well-established business or do we not? My opinion is we do and therefore I will be supporting the recommendation for approval.”

The committee voted in favour of the application by nine votes to one.

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