The Stables Wakefield A 4

Dunroamin

Cottages

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Primrose

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Cottage

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Tank

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Floral Court

Hare Hatch

Wakefield

53.3m

Loggers Leap

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55.1m

Sheeplands

Rev Date DrawnDescription Chkd

Notes:

This drawing and the works depicted are the copyright of Boyer.

This drawing is for planning purposes only. It is not intended to be used for

construction purposes. Whilst all reasonable efforts are used to ensure drawings

are accurate, Boyer accept no responsibility or liability for any reliance placed on,

or use made of, this plan by anyone for purposes other than those stated above.

Do not scale from this drawing. All contractors must visit the site and be responsible

for taking and checking Dimensions.

- 15.03.21 First Issue AJAW

Client

Drawing No.

Revision

Drawing Title

Project

Job Ref.

Scale Bar

Scale @ A3

Reproduced from the Ordnance Survey map with the permission of Ordnance Survey on

behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, © Crown Copyright AR 100007250

Boyer Planning Ltd, Crowthorne House, Nine Mile Ride, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 3GZ

0 10 20 30m

1:1250

Harehatch Sheeplands

Location Plan - Exhibition Space

HH-ES03 19.1005

A


Key:

Site Boundary

Application Boundary

A 22.03.21 Minor amendments AJAW

Exhibition Space

Hare Hatch

Sheeplands


Notes:









Client

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0 5 10 15m

1:500


Location Plan - Exhibition Space

HH-ES01 19.1005

A


Key:

Site Boundary

Application Boundary


Exhibition Space

Document No. IMS-F-15, Revision 1, 01.05.2018 Page 1 of 2

Exhibition Space Elevations

View looking south.

Please note that the roof is undulating and

therefore floor to gutter and floor to ridge

measurements are included.

View looking south.

Document No. IMS-F-15, Revision 1, 01.05.2018 Page 2 of 2

View looking east from entrance to exhibition

space.

View looking north. This photo was taken in

2019 and the plants are no longer in situ.

Zone 1

Zone 4

Zone 2

Zone 3

Boiler

Sliding Door

Door

Concrete path

Zone1S. Africa

AloesHaworthiasMesembryanthemumCrassula

Zone 2S. Amercia - Andes

TrichocereusLobiviaRebutia

Zone 3N. America - Mexico &S.W. USA

AgaveOpuntiaMammillariaEcheveria

Zone 4Europe & NorthAfrica

SedumnsAeoniumsEuphorbia

An exhibition house illustrating the plant kingdoms diverse strategiesfor survival in the deserts of the world where rainfall is infrequent andirregulars.

42000

16000


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0 2 4 6m

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Floor Layout - Exhibition Space

HH-ES02 19.1005

A



Volume Calculations for Countryside Development

Planning application reference no: _______________

Volume of original dwelling = 1969.72 (approx.) cubic metres

Volume of any extensions already constructed = 0 cubic metres

Total existing volume = 1969.72 (approx.) cubic metres

Volume of proposed development (the subject of this application) = 1969.72 (approx.) cubic

metres

Additional volume = 0 cubic metres

Registered in the UK as Hare Hatch Sheeplands Ltd No: 11122427 VAT No: 330 1721 53 Registered Address: 74-76 Aldwick Road, Bognor Regis, West Sussex. PO21 2PE

Rob Scott, our founding Director, is identified by the Royal Horticultural Society as a joint holder of the national plant collection of haworthia, part of which collection has been housed on our site for over 25 years. We hold expert knowledge of haworthia and are also specialists in cactus and succulents, which will also form part of the display. To qualify as a national plant collection, the haworthia are required to be registered and documented as a collection of a group of plants, linked botanically and have a shared history. The aim of national plant collections is that they are made available for people to view.

The exhibition is designed to go further than merely displaying the national plant collection of haworthia – it is designed to show the huge diversity of succulent plants and highlight the strategies adopted by these plants to survive the harsh environments found in desert habitats around the world. As global warming progresses more and more of the earth’s land will be subjected to the combined pressures of high temperature and unpredictable rainfall, succulent plants have evolved to survive and thrive in such conditions and offer the same range of food and pharmaceutical opportunities as other groups of plants from less arid regions. Whilst research is being done globally to harness the benefits of these plants for agriculture, they also offer horticultural opportunities to become more widely used in our gardens and townscapes to reduce our dependence on the high water needs that our currents garden traditions demand.

Sedums and sempervivums are already used for living roofs and walls and as we all become aware of the value of plants in reducing air pollution and soil erosion this will become more relevant to the generation growing up into a very fragile world. Through the display of living plants from various geographical regions along with display boards and photos the exhibition will seek to engage the interests of children from the age of two upwards. By using cacti and succulents which hold a natural fascination for children of all ages the exhibition will seek to demonstrate basic biological processes such as growth and reproduction using practical workshops demonstrating hand pollination to illustrate the work of insects and birds in the wild.

Hare Hatch Sheeplands Ltd Hare Hatch Sheeplands London Road Hare Hatch, READING Berkshire, RG10 9HW

Customers: 0118 9401600 Office: 0118 9704690 Fax: 0118 9401006

[email protected] www.harehatchsheeplands.co.uk

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.harehatchsheeplands.co.uk/

Crowthorne House

Nine Mile Ride

Wokingham

Berkshire

RG40 3GZ

T 01344 753220

F 01344 753221

Boyer Planning Ltd. Registered Office: Crowthorne House, Nine Mile Ride, Wokingham, Berkshire RG40 3GZ. Registered in England No. 2529151. VAT 587443501. Offices at Bristol, Cardiff, Colchester, London, Midlands and Wokingham.

26 March 2020 Our Ref: 19.1005/EG/AJ Planning Wokingham Borough Council PO Box 157 Shute End Wokingham Berkshire RG10 1WR

Planning Portal Reference: PP-09611778

Dear Sir / Madam,

Re: HARE HATCH SHEEPLANDS NURSERY, LONDON ROAD, TWYFORD, RG10 9HW

FULL PLANNING APPLICATION FOR A CHANGE OF USE TO EXHIBITION SPACE (USE

CLASS F1(E)) FOR THE DISPLAY OF THE NATIONAL COLLECTION OF HAWORTHIA AND

ASSOCIATED PLANTS

On behalf of Hare Hatch Sheeplands we submit an application for a planning application for the use

of identified parts of the plant nursery for an exhibition space to display the National Collection of

Haworthia and associated plants (Class F1(e)). A temporary permission of 3 years to 2024 is

sought, however should the Council be minded to grant a permanent consent, this would assist in

planning for the sustainable future of HHS.

Site and Surroundings

The application site occupies an area of 667.7 sqm (gross) and relates to an area, as identified on

the Site Location Plan, within the existing glasshouse.

The wider Hare Hatch Sheeplands site extends up to 2.43 hectares in size and has a frontage onto

Bath Road, although access to the site is from London Road. The boundaries of the wider site

consist mainly of hedgerow. There is also a meadow situated to the south of the site, which extends

up to 0.752 hectares.

To the north of the site (on the opposite side of the A4) is Dobbies Garden Centre. To the west of the

site is Farol Ltd on the opposite side of the London Road. To the south of the site is a residential

property, Primrose Cottage, Primrose Nursery and fields. The nursery has a series of small industrial

units. To the east of the site are residential properties, Wakefield Cottages, stables and open fields.

Hare Hatch Sheeplands is located approximately 10km from Reading to the east, 8km to the west of

Maidenhead and 2.25km north east of Twyford/Ruscombe and 1.4km south east of Wargrave.

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Background

The wider HHS site has an extensive planning history, however the application site benefits from a

1997 planning permission reference F/1997/66297 for the erection of greenhouses for horticultural

use.

Other relevant planning permissions related to the wider complex include the following:

F/2001/5225 (09/01/02) – Erection of glasshouses, toilet block, office and staffroom

F/2002/7504 – erection of agricultural workers dwelling

F/2007/0225 (25/05/07) - Change of use from barn to farm shop (unrestricted A1 retail

allowed on appeal)

F/2007/1428 - Change of use of display area to coffee shop (A3) allowed on appeal

F/2008/2295 (02/02/09) - Proposed extension to farm shop to provide Butchery

172161 (04/09/17) - Variation of Condition to allow a fishmonger use within the Butchery

173316 (14/03/19) - Full application for temporary change of use of part glasshouse and

outdoor area to retail sales allowed on appeal

191519 – Application for ancillary area for storing timber

191520 – Application for use of existing service yard and storage bays for all site uses in

addition to the existing nursery use, the stationing of mobile dinosaur model and the

reinstatement of 40 car parking spaces approved under application reference F/2007/0225

erroneously covered by enforcement notice

192018 – Application for a change of use of glasshouses into events area relating to the

existing nursery

201047 – Application for a temporary change of use to house Quirks’ Animal Roadshows

Exotic Animals

201693 – Application for replacement greenhouse with café kitchen, butcher storage and

public toilets

201777 – Application for erection of two rain canopies, A/C units and outdoor café seating

area

The wider site has been the subject of enforcement action, however there has been full compliance

for nearly four years, albeit that there is an Injunction Order related to the site dated 20th February

2017 which although requires continued compliance, does not prohibit the submission of new

planning applications.

Proposed Development

This application seeks full planning permission for the temporary (3 years) change of use of the

glasshouse to an exhibition area to display the National Collection of Haworthia and associated

plants. The exhibition area will include information and display boards relating to the National

Collection.

The exhibition space will feature 4 zones, which will represent 4 different regions of the world and

will house different species of plants as follows:-

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Zone 1 will display plants from South Africa;

Zone 2 will display plants from South America;

Zone 4 will display plants from Mexico and south-west USA; and

Zone 4 will display plants from Europe and north Africa.

The National Collection has been housed at the site for over 25 years, and the aim of national plant

collections is that they are made available for people to view. The exhibition will be designed to show

the huge diversity of succulent plants and will highlight the strategies adopted by the plants to

survive the harsh environments found in desert habitats around the world.

The National Collection is run by the organisation Plant Heritage. Plant Heritage was established in

1978 with the aim of encouraging and overseeing the establishment of well documented and

researched collections of garden plants. The National Plant Collections are shining examples of

specific genuses of plant, in this case the Haworthia, a large genus of small succulent plants

endemic to Southern Africa. Collections of this standard are few and far between, and as you'd

expect from the owner of such a collection is a great variety of collections of other plant genuses all

of the same high standard. It will be these collections that form the basis of the exhibition space, a

journey through four continent zones each comprising of plants from different regions of the world.

The plants offer opportunities to be used within agriculture and pharmaceuticals, as well as offering

horticultural opportunities to become more widely used in gardens and townscapes to reduce

dependence on high water needs. Sedum and sempervivums are already used for living roofs and

walls, and the plants will become more relevant in reducing air pollution and soil erosion as the world

becomes more fragile due to global warming and other environmental challenges.

The housing of the National Collection is clearly important and given the future prospects of HHS

remain somewhat uncertain given the temporary nature of the planning permissions, it is clearly

important that high regard is given to the National Collection to ensure that it is retained for future

generations. A permanent permission for this use would be sought, however given that it remains

difficult to masterplan the wider site, a temporary consent is sought. If the Council were minded to

grant a permanent permission for these proposals this would clearly provide some certainty for the

future.

The exhibition will be permanent, which will make good use of the existing facilities to support rural

enterprise during the off season. While it is likely that some propagation will take place from some of

the plants, the exhibition and display of plants with the associated education boards, is clearly not a

horticultural activity, requiring planning permission.

The application proposals seek to implement this exhibition space and provide education information

for the benefit of the horticultural enthusiasts as well as for general gardeners in the local community

including young people in particular. The local community continue to be extremely supportive of

Hare Hatch Sheeplands.

It is particularly important, given the climate emergency that has been declared by WBC, that there

is a greater understanding of the plants in the National Collection by the general public. These

plants will become hugely important to the future of British gardening, as a result of climate change

and the need to preserve water supply through the planting of drought resistant plants, particularly

those in the National Collection.

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The proposal does not seek any increase in overall floor area or additional built form to the existing

glasshouse.

Given the past enforcement activity and Injunction Order, permission is being sought to ensure that

there is no ambiguity in the use of the site, and to provide clarity and certainty to Hare Hatch

Sheeplands.

Planning Considerations

The site is located within the Green Belt, in an area designated as being Outside Development

Limits (including Countryside) and the activities on the site comprise a rural enterprise.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published by the Government in 2019, confirms

that Section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 still requires all applications

for planning permission to be determined in accordance with the Development Plan, unless material

considerations indicate otherwise. The Development Plan relevant to the application site, comprises

the adopted Core Strategy (adopted January 2010) and Managing Development Delivery Local Plan

(MDDLP) (adopted February 2014) as well as several Supplementary Planning Documents.

In relation to Green Belt, the NPPF clearly sets out at Paragraph 143 that ‘inappropriate

development’ will be resisted in the Green Belt unless Very Special Circumstances can be

demonstrated. The WBC Core Strategy and MDDLP reiterate this position.

Paragraph 146 of the NPPF states that certain forms of development in the Green Belt are not

‘inappropriate’ in the Green Belt. This includes (d) the re-use of buildings provided that the buildings

are of permanent and substantial construction. This is on the proviso that openness is preserved and

development does not conflict with the purposes of including land within the Green Belt. While it was

noted by the Inspector in relation to the Garden Shop appeal that some of the glasshouses were not

considered to be of substantial construction, the structure subject to this application, is of a

significantly more robust nature and therefore, in our view, accords with paragraph 146(d). The side

walls of the structure are of timber panel construction, not glass. WBC having confirmed in

correspondence as part of the July 2017 Enforcement/Injunction site review that the timber panels

could be retained as conferred to the Court, and in any event they had been in place many years.

There is also a boiler in the structure, a necessity for ensuring the correct temperature can be

maintained year round. It is for this reason that Paragraph 146(d) applies in relation to this specific

proposal.

The National Collection will be held in the existing structure on site and will not require any new

glasshouses or buildings therefore there will be no spatial or visual impact on the openness of the

Green Belt. The use of the land for the National Collection will not require any remediability to return

the land to its original state of openness, given the nature of the use. This is confirmed in the

Committee Report for the events application (reference: 192018) which noted:

“There is no additional change to the built form and no additional harm from this aspects of the

development to the openness of the Green Belt… and there is no in-principle objection to the

grounds of (i).”

The display will be to the benefit to those already visiting the plant nursery and there would be little if

any additional customers over and above what there could otherwise be to the nursery. The

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National Collection will be put in a specific display with associated information as warrants its status,

however horticultural enthusiasts have been visiting the site for many years to view the plants and to

speak to the specialist growers. However, as indicated above, it is important that there is a greater

understanding of these plants by the general public including the local community, as they will

become hugely important to the future of British gardening. As a result of climate change and the

need to preserve water supply the planting of drought resistant plants, particularly those in the

National Collection, will be critical. In terms of impact, any additional customers will be utilising the

existing car parking that serves all the uses on the site, therefore there will be no greater impact on

the openness of the Green Belt. As such, the proposals will fully comply with the advice set out in

PPG Green Belts Paragraph 001 Reference ID: 64-001-20190722 dated 22 07 19.

As the proposed development is appropriate in the Green Belt, it is therefore in accordance with

Policy CP12 of the Core Strategy. It will also accord with Policy CP11 of the Core Strategy which

supports proposals that contribute to diverse and sustainable rural enterprises. Furthermore,

paragraph 83 of the NPPF (2019) advises that decisions should enable the sustainable growth and

expansion of all types of business in rural areas. The exhibition space will help to increase and

sustain the business though a use associated with the wider activities on site, particularly during the

winter season.

As indicated above, the exhibition space will be horticultural and community based. The popularity

and value to the community of Hare Hatch Sheeplands was considered by the March 2019

Inspector, in relation to Very Special Circumstances (VSC). The Inspector noted that there had been

no letters of objection to the nursery related retail sales and went on to state:

“It is clear from the letters received, and from those who spoke at the hearing, that the nursery is a

popular, highly appreciated small independent business that is much valued by the local community.

As the proposed sales area would help the nursery to survive and develop, I attach notable weight in

favour of the proposed development to the public support for the appeal and the value placed on the

business by the local community.”

This highlights the importance of the horticultural and community uses, and provides evidence of the

significant community value to visitors. Displaying the National Collection will provide access and

education opportunities for the horticultural and local community and will assist the Council in

addressing the Climate Emergency by educating gardeners about the importance of planting for the

future, therefore providing VSC’s. There is a clear synergy between the proposed exhibition space

and the wider use of the site, notwithstanding the fact that the collection needs to be located at Hare

Hatch Sheeplands, given that it is currently home to the collection and the expertise and knowledge

associated with the collection.

In terms of accessibility, the proposed exhibition space is directly related to the wider use of the site,

which of necessity is located in a rural area outside of a settlement. Given that those viewing the

National Collection will also be visiting the plant nursery, necessitates the majority of customers to

travel by car in order to take home their purchases. The Inspector dealing with the Hare Hatch

Sheepland ancillary retail Appeal in March 2019 addressed the issue of accessibility of such sites

and concluded that it was inherent of such sites.

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We also note the synergy between Quirks exotic animals which has animals from a similar climate to

the National Collection and associated plants, bringing about greater opportunities to advise on

endangered habitats, sustainability and climate change.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we consider that the proposed exhibition space for the National Collection and

associated plants is not ‘inappropriate development’ in the Green Belt according to paragraph 146

(d) of the NPPF as an existing permanent and substantial structure will be utilised and there will be

little or no impact on the openness of the Green Belt. Nor will there be any impact on the

Countryside. The application proposals will however continue to help support an existing rural

enterprise. Furthermore, by the nature of the exhibition, it is important that the National Collection is

located at Hare Hatch Sheeplands given the expertise associated with it and the wider climate

change adaptation benefits in gardening, that can be derived through educating local WBC residents

as well as horticultural enthusiasts. In light of the above, the proposals should be approved.

The application has been submitted via Planning Portal (reference: PP-09611778) and comprises:

This covering letter;

National Collection Supporting Statement;

Application forms and certificates;

Existing elevations and floorplans;

Countryside Form;

CIL Form;

Site Location Plan.

The planning application fee of £462.00 has been made separately via the Planning Portal.

We look forward to receiving your formal acknowledgement that the application has been registered

and we trust that you have sufficient information to approve the application, however, please do not

hesitate to contact me should you require additional information.

Yours sincerely

Alyson Jones Director Tel: 07742 402 949 Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

The Stables Wakefield A 4

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