Farmers win appeal to build barn after road safety concerns

The Woosnam family of Upper Gwestydd, Cefn Mawr on the outskirts of Newtown will now be allowed to build after a prolonged wrangle with Powys County Council since they first applied last May.

The application was refused initially refused in July last year by Powys planners over road safety concerns.

But planning inspector Anthony Thickett, said: “The Council’s objections are not that the siting of the building would in itself impact on highway safety by say, interfering with visibility, but on the grounds that it would lead to the intensification of the use of an existing alleged sub-standard access to the highway.

“However, the principle of the development, including its use for the storage of agricultural machinery etc, is established under the GPDO (General Permitted Development Order).

“There are likely to be vehicle movements associated with an agricultural building wherever it is located.

“Had the authors of the GPDO deemed it important and necessary, they would have included highway safety, and traffic generation as a matter for consideration for the prior approval of an agricultural building; they did not.”

“In refusing to grant prior approval for the proposed agricultural building on the grounds of highway safety, the council misdirected itself.”

He added that he had not read anything to show that prior approval should be withheld.

The appeal decision was brought up at the planning committee meeting on Thursday, February 4, and noted by the councillors.

In May 2019, an application for a 32,000 egg production unit at Upper Gwestydd, was rejected by Powys County Council’s planning committee, on highways and ecological grounds.

It was also rejected on appeal.

A previous application had also been rejected in November 2017 following a high profile campaign against it, which included a petition signed by 5,618 against the proposal.