Twelve static caravans on a Herefordshire fruit farm could be made permanent places of residence, 25 years after they arrived.

The 12 were placed at Hill Farm, Kings Pyon, near Hereford, part of the extensive Garnstone Farms, in 1999 without planning permission, a statement with the estate’s application for a certificate of lawfulness (number 240648) says.

So-called permitted development allows caravans to be stationed “seasonally” on farms without planning permission if they are removed out of season.

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Bought from a holiday park and brought to the site by lorry, the caravans “retain the characteristics of a mobile home whereby they can easily be moved in one piece” and otherwise meet the legal definition of caravan.

But in every year of their use, the caravans in question have housed seasonal farm workers between mid-January and late November – “too long a period to comprise seasonal occupation”, the application claims, while their occupants “carry out operations which are more general than to be truly seasonal”.

And though four were replaced at the end of last season, the caravans are not otherwise removed in winter – meaning they “are not permitted development” and constitute “a breach of planning control”, the application statement says.

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But there can be no planning enforcement where such a breach can be shown to have happened continuously for ten years or more.

This the farm’s application seeks to do with Google Earth images showing the caravans stationed the farm from 2009 onwards, and a signed declaration.

The application can be commented on until April 24, with a decision due next month.