A HEREFORDSHIRE field owner has been told they can keep their shepherd's huts after installing holiday accommodation without planning permission, despite local objections.

A retrospective planning application for the change of use of agricultural land and for associated development to site two shepherd's huts at a property on a private lane off Wyatt Road in Sutton St Nicholas was submitted to Herefordshire Council in 2022, but was put on hold due to phosphates, like many in the county.

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A planning statement said the pasture field was surplus to requirements and that the huts, which had already been placed on the site, would offer holiday accommodation from March to October.

The statement said the huts would be moveable structures but would be connected by decking to provide a communal outside seating area, which was later removed to satisfy concerns of permanency.

The initial application received a number of objections, including from Marden Parish Council, which said the retrospective application was "not acceptable" and that if the huts were moveable, they "should be removed by enforcement until the application is decided".

They said the installation of "significant permanent drainage and facilities" was not suitable for moveable structures.

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Councillors also questioned the size of the area included in the change of use application, with concerns that there would be more development in the future, and over the access from a private, unadopted lane.

But Herefordshire Council planners have now granted permission, with conditions including that the huts must be unoccupied during February each year, and must not be occupied for more than 28 consecutive days.

The decision notice said the plans have only been permitted for holiday purposes in the interest of contributing to tourism and the economy.