Permission was given in 1973 for an “agricultural worker’s bungalow” at Ruff Orchards, between the villages of Much Birch, Little Dewchurch and Hoarwithy in the south of the county, on condition its occupancy was limited to persons employed in farming or forestry locally, their dependants, widow or widower.
Applying for a certificate of lawfulness to confirm that the condition could no longer be enforced due to the passage of time, Douglas (also given as Anthony) and Alison Field said in a redacted declaration that they have lived in the house since 2010, though it had ceased to be in agricultural use in 2005.
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At the time, Mr Field ran Innova Systems, a small conveying equipment manufacturer in Ross-on-Wye, while Mrs Field worked as a freelance translator and proofreader. They bought the freehold of the property in 2015.
Neither have ever worked in agriculture or forestry during their 15 years’ continued occupancy of the cottage, the declaration said.
The couple submitted evidence of council tax payments and from the electoral roll to back up their statement.
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This appeared to convince planning officer Natalie Sullivan, given there was no public response to the application during the consultation period.
She concluded that, “on the balance of probabilities”, and with “no evidence to the contrary”, the breach of the planning condition at Ruff Orchards had gone on for longer than ten years, and so “the time in which enforcement action could be taken has now expired”.
The certificate of lawfulness was granted.