A COUPLE'S appeal case to keep a mobile home on their Madley field was heard by a planning inspector yesterday (May 1).

Stuart and Shan Maund moved onto the land west of Upper House which they purchased to develop a mixed rural enterprise in February 2018.

The couple want to breed Shire horses, keep sheep and run horse riding lessons from the site which is behind the Comet Inn.

Inspector Tim Belcher asked if there was a functional need for the mobile home to be kept on the site.

He asked what welfare issues prevented the couple from living elsewhere and travelling to the site to see to the animals.

The appellant’s agent David Fellows said the functional need would be established once the rural enterprise was up and running fully.

“Until recently rural areas had become the Cinderellas of the planning system and had been left out of the party,” he said.

“Fortunately, National Planning Policy Framework started to give some credence that rural enterprise need to be supported,” he said.

“I hear your points regard the functional need but there is the social, economic and environmental issues which need to be taken into account.

“The NPPF supports this. I believe that contrary to the functional need which is not yet established, but is an evolving matter, this planning appeal should be allowed for the reasons we have put forward.”

However, Herefordshire Council planning officers disagreed with this view which they said would lead to mobile homes being in placed in many fields across the county.

Mark Tansley said: “Despite what Mr Fellows thinks we believe there is a prerequisite functional need to rely on support for that particular policy.

“Otherwise we would have caravans in every other field.”

Martin James, an independent person who attended the appeal, said that businesses in rural communities were in desperate need for support.

“I was a local Madley councillor for just under a year and was also the footpath officer for the area.

“Moving from a city such as London and Bristol to Hereford has been wonderful but the lack of opportunity in rural area is very deeply concerning and injecting more good people who want to improve the area can only be a positive step forward.

“The local community desperately needs support. We are simply asking for you to allow more free enterprise.”

A decision is likely within the next few weeks.