A group of campaigners have raised almost £10,000 towards a legal campaign against a decision to allow a house to be built in a protected beauty spot.
The Rame Protection Group set up a crowdfunding campaign after Cornwall Council granted permission for a farmer to build a new home on land at Rame Head which is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Hundreds of people had objected to the planning application along with the Cornwall AONB unit which said that the modern two-storey home was not appropriate for the site.
However councillors granted permission for the home using a policy which allows homes to be built if they are to be used by agricultural workers.
The proposed plan for the house
The Rame Protection Group said: “The outcry against this decision has been significant. More than 2,000 people have signed a petition against the decision, 135 objections were sent in before the meeting and a local community group (Rame Protection Group/RPG – formerly the Rame Head Protection Group) has amassed nearly 100 supporters and launched a campaign to have the decision overturned.
“The campaign points out that the special rules governing agricultural tenancies should not have applied in this case since no new worker is being taken on. The permission is not even tied to the farm, which means that should the farmer concerned choose to move back down the lane to the farmhouse, he can apply to have the constraint lifted on the grounds that it is no longer needed and then sell or let the house as he wishes.
“The Rame Protection Group points out that unless this decision is overturned, any farmer can use this precedent to defy protective legislation to put up a new executive style house in the most beautiful and unspoilt parts of the Cornish Coast. The group have launched a legal challenge to overturn the decision and a crowdfunding appeal to help pay for it.”
The fundraising campaign was set up with an original target of £7,500 but this was reached within just 48 hours.
As a result the target has now been stretched to £19,500 and has so far raised £9,599.
The group is looking to use the money to pay for a judicial review of the council’s decision to grant planning permission.
On the crowdfunding page they state: “Our claim is that Cornwall Council failed to provide sufficient reasons for not following their own planning officer’s recommendation, and that their claim that the development would not harm the AONB has not been justified. According to policy, development in AONBs should only be permitted in exceptional circumstances which are undeniably in the public interest. We, and the more than 1,800 signatories to the petition, believe this is clearly not the case.”
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