Hampshire alpaca farm ordered to close by the government after planning breaches exposed

Sam and Jade Giles planned to import and breed alpacas for their business on land at Lone Barn Farm, Church Lane in Greatham.

The council ruled that they should remove their mobile home as well as a septic tank, a stable, concrete hardstandings and other structures which were built without planning permission. The pair appealed against the ruling in 2021, only for the Planning Inspectorate to settle the matter by siding with the council. The occupants now have eight months to remove everything from the site.

SEE ALSO: World champion tower runner sets new record in race to the top of Spinnaker Tower for RNLI fundraiser

Business owner Mr Giles described the council as ‘the biggest mess going’.

‘Apparently they don’t want any building in the South Downs and all I’m doing was farming alpacas on agricultural land,’ he said.

‘I’m going to sell the alpacas because they don’t want to give me a barn so I can’t buy hay cheap enough. I’ve put in another planning application so we’ll see.’

SEE ALSO: Unauthorised school absences earn Hampshire County Council nearly £200,000 in one school year

Simon Jenkins, the chief operating officer at East Hampshire District Council, said: ‘East Hampshire District Council has reinforced its planning enforcement team to help it fight just these kinds of legal battles and protect our district’s most sensitive agricultural sites.

‘We have made it clear that we are going to be tough on developers who break the rules. This is a significant case which demonstrates how determined we are to see these fights through to the end.

‘Developers need to know that if they breach our planning regulations we have the expertise and resources to bring them to book.’

The inspector’s verdict rested on the soundness of the occupant’s financial plan and whether it was necessary for the couple to live on-site all year round.

The Planning Inspectorate said that none of the questions was satisfactorily answered by the couple. The land must now be returned to its former use as an agricultural site.

The South Downs stretch right across the south-eastern coastal counties, starting at the Itchen Valley in Hampshire and running all the way over to Beachy Head in East Sussex.