NFDC rejects retrospective application to allow open storage at Forest Farm in Milford

POPULAR plans to allow storage containers and boats to continue to be stored on farmland in Milford have been rejected by district councillors.

The owner of Forest Farm on Barnes Lane will now have to stop using their land for open storage after New Forest District Council (NFDC) refused a retrospective application for a change of its use.

Among more than a dozen people writing in support of the application, local county councillor Fran Carpenter told NFDC: “I see no reason, from a highways or any other perspective, why this application should not be accepted.

“It is vitally important that we support our local farming community.

“I am convinced that the applicant very much wishes to keep their farm as a farm, carrying out farming activities and continuing to hold livestock on the land. In the event that they did not get this application, the land could be sold for other purposes.”

A Warren Croft resident told NFDC: “I know the applicant, and this land is at the back of my property.

“I have seen the councillor's very succinct supporting comment, which I cannot improve on. It is indeed vitally important that we support our local farming community.”

A sailor who lives on Shorefield Road wrote to the council to say: “I see no problem with the general set up of the farm.

“I store my 21ft boat at the farm over winter and do maintenance on her during that time.

“At no time did I witness many vehicle movements, noise, crowds etc. In fact I enjoyed the peaceful quiet environment all the times I have spent at the farm.”

A Keyhaven Yacht Club representative told the authority: “Keyhaven Yacht Club stores its five support boats, four ribs and a race officer boat at Forest Farm over winter.

“It is an essential facility for the club as it is the only one that provides shelter and opportunity for maintenance to be carried out. The extra support also provided by the owner of the farm is invaluable.”

Despite the raft of supportive comments, an NFDC officer recommended refusing the application.

“The proposed development would comprise inappropriate development in the Green Belt,” the officer wrote, “resulting in an intensification of the use of the land and harmful impacts on the openness of the Green Belt.

“No very special circumstances have been demonstrated which would justify an exception to the established Green Belt policies.”

They continued: “The proposed development is located in this sensitive area of open countryside outside of a defined settlement boundary and within the designated South West Hampshire Green Belt.

“It would result in an intrusive and unacceptable form of commercial development in the countryside and Green Belt where development is restricted unless specific criteria are met.”

The officer noted the council had received 16 comments in support of the application, one against, and one neutral.

Echoing the officer’s concerns, planners refused the application but advised the farmer to read their rights of appeal “carefully”.