Former pig farm could make way for four new homes despite Green Belt setting

Plans have been submitted to replace agricultural buildings on a Rotherham farm with four houses, despite the location being Green Belt and close to a Listed building.

The application, for work at Bramley Grange Farm, argues that the site could be considered Grey Belt under recently introduced planning guidelines.

It also states that details of the proposals have been redrawn, following discussions with council planning officials.

If allowed, the development would cover a ‘footprint’ almost two thirds down on the buildings they would replace, to be built in a courtyard style complex.

The plans have been amended from an earlier scheme “to provide a more coherent contemporary agricultural character, to improve the relationship with the adjacent Grade II Listed Bramley Grange Farmhouse, and to ensure that the proposed development is less dispersed than the previous schemes.”

The site is on Lidget Lane, a short distance from the centre of Bramley had has been used as an intensive pig farm in the past, a use which the application concedes raised “a loss of amenity to residential properties and operational difficulties for the pig farm”.

It was able to process 4,000 pigs per year, but the buildings are within around 60 metres of homes in Milner Close.

Around a dozen existing buildings would be cleared for the development, with work to improve the biodiversity of the site also planned, as well as improving drainage.

The application also points to the fact that Rotherham Council is currently unable to meet its commitment to have a five year supply of housing land available - a situation which makes it more difficult for the authority to object to proposed developments which fall outside its own Local Plan, the blueprint for housing and commercial development adopted several years ago.

A decision on the application will be made later.