Family told to quit their farm
Monday 12th January 2009, 6:00PM GMT.
A Shropshire couple have been told they must move off their eco-friendly farm within a year after losing an appeal to keep the caravan they live in sited there.
Janta and Merav Wheelhouse have lived in a caravan on Karuna, their 18-acre site at Picklescott, near Shrewsbury, since moving out of their Bayston Hill home in 2005.
But independent planning inspector Claire Sherratt turned down the appeal when she made her decision today and ordered the couple to move out.
The appeal, which was heard in November, was over the siting of a metal storage container, a polytunnel, and the caravans Mr and Mrs Wheelhouse have been living in with their two sons.
During the four-day hearing they claimed they had to be on site to maintain the land and trees they have planted.
Mrs Sherratt said she did not doubt the Wheelhouses’ endeavours, and their efforts to “live a more frugal existence than most to work towards a self sufficient way of living”, but added: “I find little support for any functional need to live on site. The appellants moved on to the site without the benefit of planning permission and left a rented property.
“The harm arising is in my view significant. The AONB is a nationally designated area afforded the highest protection.”
Mrs and Mrs Wheelhouse have been given 16 weeks to remove the container, 12 months to find a new home and move off the site, and have been denied permission to put up the polytunnel.
Mrs Wheelhouse said that as she had not yet seen the decision notice she did not want to comment.
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Yet I bet travellers would have been allowed to stay as long as they wanted and then we would clean up after them as well!
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Pathetic – these people are trying to make a decent living, does a container and caravan really look that bad? Maybe the people making these decisions should look at the caravans that get parked on residential estates, the ones no one is living in and simply block drives forcing owners to park their cars on the estate roads becominga nuisance, and are also an utter eyesore!! Try getting help to get these moved and see where it gets you!! As I said – pathetic!!
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Should get a motor Home. Because it’s mobile, it’s not permanent and avoids planning permission? Illegitimi non carborundum. Dave.
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If they own the land theres nothing anyone can do. If I owned land then I will do what I please, a caravan is on wheels, which means you do NOT need to build foundations, which also means no planning permission is needed! I will stay there till this woman who told them to move actually see’s the light! She does doesnt like it because she has to pay rent or a mortgage.
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yes they should move !! its all very well and good saying they arent causing any harm but…………..then the travellers could just go around buying farm land plant a couple of trees and all move in couldnt they!!
planning permission is there to protect everyone and seems unfair sometimes yes ,but when people ignore planning applications then see what the country looks like with botched up buildings and no manner of eyesores on land and driveways and in gardens, get them out !!
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It doesn’t look unsightly there at all, in fact you can’t notice it easily from the road. The site generally is a credit to their hard work and far tidier and better maintained than some of the farms in the immediate vicinity.
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As space hopper says tell the council they are travellers, I am sure the council will promptly change their mind and give permission for another hundred caravans!!
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This is such a ridiculous decision. They are caring for the land not damaging it. Mrs Sherrat needs to get her priorities right and start worrying about more important things.
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“The AONB is a nationally designated area afforded the highest protection.”
Doesn’t stop them from wanting to opencast mine by the wrekin
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If they want to live on there land let them. its there land. think they should get these idiots in the offices kicked out of there homes.
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No surprise here. National and local government strut around flaunting their green credentials but the odd reality check now and again reveals a lot. They tell you to recycle, but they throw your carefully sorted waste into landfill anyway; tell tell you it’s important to cut down on emissions, but they build new runways and make trains expensive to use; you to make a small change to your house for panels or turbines and they make you jump through big, expensive hoops; you try to live an eco-life and they spend huge amounts of money to bring you back into their carbon-rich economy; you put a caravan discretely in a field and they spend money to get it removed, (no council tax for them?) while they nod through the building of literally thousands of new carbon-intensive houses on Shropshire’s green fields (lots of council tax for them!).
I’m not advocating one theory or another, but there has to be consistency from the people who create strategy and make decisions. And they really do have to start re-learning that THEY work for US and that they should stay OUT of our private lives unless we’re causing harm to others.
It’s so ingrained now that they can’t stop their habit of nosing, they can’t stop their habit of not being able to think in a joined-up way, they can’t stop their habit of spending large chunks of money and above all, they can’t get out of the habit of being hypocritical.
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I would just stay put. Coucils in the Uk have no power so eventually they will get bored of trying to exercise power they do not have.
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The couple have flouted planning laws that we all have to abide by and have cost us the taxpayers a great deal of money for a lot of paperwork for enforcement notices and 4 day long inquiry.
These couple/developers have been supported by a number of people who are total hypocrites and oppose any planning permission that may be sought near to where they themselves live.
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All this rage just warms up the pixels of everyones monitors, like Facebook groups, comes to nothing and influences nothing. Write to them – support them, write to the local council, help fund them to take it to the European court of justice. don’t just sit there and spout – your talking to like thinking people but getting nothing done for those you rage about.
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Get real. If we do not crotrol development in the countryside what is to stop anyone buying a feild and moving onto the land. If this was to happen all those knocking the council now would still be complaining because they have nothing better to do.We should change the county name from Shropshire to Moanshire.
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looks as though the council are on another loser here. some friends of mine, amusement caterers, bought a field in the country to keep their lorries, rides and caravans in during the winter. they were continually refused permission and told to move on, 7 years later you would not know they were there power, running water and the whole area screened by high hedges. no trouble to any one
hang on in there the wheelhouses, pray what nuisance, damage are they causing. time for another rethink scc and smell the coffee.
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It realy annoys me these people own the land small it may be , however you see farmers building houses on there land under the guise of farm workers cottage but it clearly is not going to be used for that . one law for one and another for another.
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They should use the Human rights act!
After all, Europe are our masters now.
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It’s a far healthier place to live than Bayston Hill.
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Dougy, you’re right. The land they own is designated as agricultural, not residential, and as such can’t be developed to live on without planning permission. They’d have had more cause for complaint if they had just done in right in the first place. I’ve been following this story with some interest, and it seems that there’s a lot they haven’t done by the book – in which case they should be penalised for it – and they have made many arguments that don’t stack up (moving out of a comforatable, accessible house to live in a caravan in a muddy field when you’re disabled???).
Anyway, as Mrs Sherratt say, how much maintaing do trees really need?
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im glad you agree townie, the true fact of this story is they are a burden to the state and as for self sufficient then thats all a load of rubbish too, most people like this live off state handouts and benefit payments,all taxpayers money, they moved to this site to maintain trees ?? if any of the above people making comments on the lines of yes stay there , and well done etc would like to post their address i will publish it on the internet under a list of welcoming sites for other caravan dwellers !!!! no takers, , thought as much !!!
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I agree with you both townie & dougy. If you live off the state you should follow the state’s rules. I’ve been following this saga in the Star too and from what I’ve picked up they didn’t read the planning rules book at all!!!!! They had four days to put their case to the Planning Inspector. Read they’re going to appeal to the High Court but can’t see that they have any grounds for appeal.
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