Concerns over use of Horsham farm building for lorry repairs

The building – at Stonehouse Farm in Plummers Plain – has been used for the maintenance and repair of lorries since 2019 after Horsham District Council granted temporary permission for a period of three years.

But now owners of the farm want the use of the building, a former dairy processing unit, made permanent.

The building has been occupied by Stepney Commercials, a commercial vehicle engineering and repair company, since 2020 when a previous tenant moved out. It has gradually expanded and now employs six full-time people.

However, concerns are being raised by people living nearby over the change of use and a number of objections are being put before the council. Many say that the farm is more like an industrial site than a farm. One person described it as ‘a blight on the farming and residential environment.’

Another said: “The heavy industrial use is out of keeping with the rural area.” And another added: “Turning this farm into an industrial park doesn’t respect the right of peaceful enjoyment of neighbours.”

They say there is little evidence of the farm now being used for any farming activity. One objector said that the farm’s dairy herd was sold in 2021 and there was no evidence of farming activity there since “apart from a few grazing sheep.”

However, agents for the farm owners, in a planning statement to the council, say that the farm “now produces beef, lamb, and pork, predominantly for local retailers and farm gate sales and it is hoped will build over time.”

Meanwhile, the farm is at the centre of another planning application over the use of lakes on the site for fishing.

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Members of Slaugham Angling Club have been fishing in the lakes at Stonehouse Farm for the past five years – but did not realise they needed planning permission for the ‘change of use’ of the lakes.

The club is now seeking retrospective consent from Horsham District Council to carry on fishing there.

The lakes were originally created in 2008 to form part of a sustainable drainage system for a dairy unit at the farm but the unit never got off the ground.