Grain store is on hold, says Robert Neill

What an interesting four weeks since we wrote our previous article. During this time, we have had to acquire a considerable amount of knowledge about the planning application process.

We finished our previous article by saying that as long as there were no objections to our planning application for a grain store, we would hope to start work preparing the site. There have, however, been a number of objections and therefore the plans now have to be submitted to the planning committee.

It seems unfortunate that none of the people who objected came to speak to us about our plans. They have been happier to believe the contents of a letter circulated by a resident of one of the farm cottages who wrote to all of the immediate neighbours, and everyone along a 10-mile stretch of road, urging them to object to a large commercial grain store and public weighbridge, which would greatly increase the amount of heavy goods vehicles using all of the local roads. In reality, the store and weighbridge are both to be used solely by the firm of Robert Neill and Partners.

We have looked carefully at the impact this new shed will have on the immediate neighbours and the wider community. The proposed shed will house an electric grain drier, which will dramatically reduce both noise and dust. The grain will no longer have to be moved between farms at all times of the day. One of the main reasons for building the shed is to enable us to store grain to feed our livestock throughout the year. In reality, this will reduce the amount of lorry traffic because we won’t have to sell our grain during harvest and then buy and haul grain back into the farm during the winter.

We will now have to wait a few more weeks to find out the outcome of our application.

Livestock Farmer Focus: Robert Neill