House and wine store at West Chiltington alpaca farm and vineyard refused

The application, from Claire Holloway, of Moralee Farm, was rejected by Horsham District Council’s planning committee on Tuesday (February 15).

The committee was told that planning officers had issues with the scale of the development, which they felt would be ‘prominent and dominant’.

They also had concerns about the quality of the build, particularly its ‘awkward’ roof junctions.

Ms Holloway told the meeting that the plans presented to the committee had been superseded, with new ones available which addressed such concerns.

But she had not been allowed to replace the old with the new – planning officers confirmed the changes had come in ‘rather late’.

Describing the new building as ‘necessary for my business to exist’, she told councillors that the vineyard would shortly be producing some 9,000 bottles of wine each year.

She added: “This needs to be stored in an hygienic, temperature-controlled environment.

“It’s unreasonable to expect packing for sale and distribution by an employee to take place in the kitchen of my home.”

But the committee agreed with planning officers, who recommended that the application be refused.

While keen not to be seen as ‘anti-business’, they too felt the new building would be too big.

They also raised concerns about the single track Haglands Lane, which leads to the farm.

Philip Circus (Con, West Chiltington, Thakeham & Ashington) pointed out that the lane had no passing points and was ‘totally unsuitable’ for any potential increase in traffic to and from the farm.

John Blackall (Con, West Chiltington, Thakeham & Ashington) mentioned that a similar nearby vineyard sold its wares out of a small lock-up, with no need of a shop.

He suggested Ms Holloway should come up with something smaller which more reflected the size of the four-acre vineyard.

To view the application, log on to public-access.horsham.gov.uk and search for DC/21/1375.