A Herefordshire supplier of premium edible snails used by chefs including Heston Blumenthal has been given permission to turn a cabin where he cooks them into a single-bedroom holiday let.
Richard Fishbourne of Fownhope southeast of Hereford applied for planning permission for the switch in June. But it was not wholly popular locally.
Fownhope Parish Council maintained that the property was both outside the settlement boundary and within the Wye Valley National Landscape, and was also “highly visible” from the village, so should not be considered for residential use.
RELATED NEWS:
Village resident Oliver Slane also feared the plan could “begin a precedent to put more residential buildings on the area”.
But there were no objections from highways or ecology officers, or from Welsh Water.
Planning officer Joshua Evans concluded that “small-scale holiday accommodation and the associated cooking cabin” were in line with local and national planning policy, with “no significant harm to landscape character, residential amenity, or protected views”.
OTHER NEWS:
Conditions with the approval prevent its future use as a home, as well as restricting lighting and noise.
Mr Fishbourne previously said that getting permission to diversify a rural business “can be an uphill battle”.
His “niche” business of supplying top-end restaurants will continue, as the snail cooking operation is being relocated to an already permitted hay store at the site.