Eyemouth-based farming company’s homes bid to ease financial pressures

The bid was previously refused by the council.

W A Mole & Sons submitted an application to Scottish Borders Council to build four houses on land west of Greenburn Cottage in the village of Auchencrow, near Reston.

But planning officers refused the application on the grounds that the proposed site would “not be well related to an existing building group of three or more dwelling houses”.

It was also considered the development would “extend beyond Auchencrow’s sense of place, into an undeveloped field, and would result in ribbon development to the detriment of both the village’s character and the surrounding landscape”.

Now the company is preparing to appeal that refusal to members of SBC’s Local Review Body, who are to meet on Monday, May 15.

W A Mole & Sons has a turnover well over £500k year on year, which is significant in the local agriculturally-led economy.

As well as employing staff exclusively from the local area, the business also has several cottages on land in their ownership which are offered to locals at a very low cost.

This is important for the business as it provides regular, reliable cash-flow at a time of unprecedented challenges in the agricultural industry.

The housing bid is another way for the company to improve the sustainability of the business.

A statement, prepared for the applicant by Edinburgh-based planning consultants Cockburn’s, says: “The dwelling houses as proposed would accord with the same philosophy as the existing cottages and would help to ensure the sustainability of the business by providing at least some regular cash-flow whilst also providing much needed, low cost family housing in the area.”

The statement also says the proposed development “would constitute housing in the countryside that would relate well to a building group, within a contained site and whilst it does break to an existing field, it is not open and has been developed previously”.

It adds: “The officer acknowledges that there is a large established building group at Auchencrow, which has numerical scope for expansion. The size of the building group is well in excess of twenty dwelling houses and, taking cognisance of development since the start of the plan period and the absence of outstanding permissions, in simple numerical terms there is capacity for the dwellings as proposed.”