AN ?imaginative scheme? for a farm shop with a café and meat preparation area at a ?model? farm in Hatherleigh was this week given the thumbs up by West Devon?s planning committee.
The application was submitted by Fishleigh Estate, which has moved to organic production and instituted an environment-friendly management scheme ? becoming a model example of its kind, according to the owner.
The proposal was for a building containing meat butchery and packaging facilities, shop, a café, food preparation area and toilets.
Two supporting letters were received by the borough council, one from a trader stating the promised regeneration following foot and mouth had not materialised and new ways of attracting people to the town were needed.
The second supporter was the director for rural research at the University of Exeter, Professor Winter, a town resident who recently chaired the Hatherleigh Area Project.
Professor Winter said the aim for a ?reconnection of producer, consumer and countryside is the most distinctive feature of the application and places it in a different category to many other local or organic food outlets?.
?It is an imaginative scheme and in accordance with national and regional policy on farming and food,? he stated.
But five letters of objection were received, four from traders who felt the out-of-town development would draw trade away from the town centre. It was suggested the business could use one of the units to be built at the market site instead.
Planning officer John Milverton said Hatherleigh Town Council felt the proposal ?would not threaten the viability of the town if the shop was limited to goods from the estate, plus a small amount of other goods?.
Mr Milverton said: ?The viability of town centres is a planning issue, but the goods to be sold, being high quality organic, are not available in the town.
?The model farm draws people to the area, which outweighs any detriment.
?The approach taken by the applicant, to use the environmental quality of his farm to build a market and to reinforce that through educational tours and public access, is astute and in line with current advice to the farming industry,? the planning officer?s report said.
Estate owner Ian Sargent said he was relieved his plans could be put into effect, but was disappointed at the restricted use of ten per cent of the retail floor space for other people?s produce.
?We can produce a lot of goods from the estate itself, but I was hoping to have a display of the Best of the West with a chance for other producers from the region to have an exhibition area, which will be difficult to do now,? he said.
The first thing he intended to be seen on entering the building would be a display area promoting Hatherleigh, its amenities and attractions.
He said: ?Hatherleigh deserves some recognition and regeneration, and we believe that in a modest way we can help by drawing consumers into the area, investing locally and creating some employment opportunities.?
Mr Sargent anticipated that four jobs would be created with more hopefully to follow.
Councillors unanimously approved the application with conditions including landscaping and the restriction on the size of the retail area.