A COUPLE'S bid to establish a new farm in Chediston has been given a boost after councillors agreed to let them temporarily live on the site.Vic Reeve and his partner Julie Davis have been granted three years temporary planning permission to live on land at Chediston.

A COUPLE'S bid to establish a new farm in Chediston has been given a boost after councillors agreed to let them temporarily live on the site.

Vic Reeve and his partner Julie Davis have been granted three years temporary planning permission to live on land at Chediston.

The couple have owned the 31-acre site for more than three years and have a number of cattle grazing on the meadows, including 13 cows and 12 calves, and intend to introduce flocks of 1,000 free range hens and intensively rear beef calves in the barn on the small-holding.

Suffolk Coastal District Council gave the go-ahead last year for a caravan and a shed on land in Linstead Parva Road, but the shed put there was larger than agreed and it had been linked to the caravan.

Ivan Jowers, chairman of the council's north area development control sub-committee, said: “Once it was realised that there were issues about this site, a new application was submitted so we could take a considered decision about what has been put there.

“Local and national planning rules are very strict as to what is allowed in our countryside, and agricultural accommodation has to meet some very specific criteria.

“At the same time, it is right that we are ready to be flexible to encourage those who want to join one of our district's most long-standing professions.

“By only offering temporary permission for someone to live on this land, and insisting that they must work there, we are doing our bit to encourage this enterprise while ensuring that if the business fails, then the right to live there disappears as well.

“Clearly, our hope is that this small-holding will become successful and able to survive and prosper long-term, but we will continue to monitor it.”

The committee was told that there is no other reasonably priced accommodation in Chediston which could be used rather than the caravan.

As well as agreeing a further three years temporary planning permission for use of the site, the council also insisted on formal accounts being kept.

Ms Davis said: “We are really pleased with the decision. Once we had bought the land we did not have enough capital to buy a property and then there was nowhere around here close enough. We really need to be on site for animal welfare reasons. We are really glad they listened to our concerns.”