thought it would be relatively easy to get plan- ning permission to build a farmhouse for them- selves and their three sons. Instead it took five long years of patient nego-
W
tiating, perserverence and optimism to get the go-ahead for a four-bedroom family home, and a further two to reach the point where they could finally move in. “It was a very drawn-out process,” says
Simon. “There were changes to the family busi- ness arrangements which gave us the opportu- nity to buy the land and expand the farm.” They were also living in a two bedroom
cottage and needed more room as the boys got older. They ploughed everything they had into the land and farm buildings, on the outskirts of Pocklington, and applied for planning permis- sion to build a farmhouse on site so they could run the business as efficiently as possible. But their application was turned down on the
basis that there was no functional need for a family home. “They wanted to see three years of business accounts and for us to prove a functional and financial need for a house on the site,” says Simon. “It didn’t make sense to us – we already had a small cattle herd and a poultry business and saw this as an expansion of the existing business.” Undeterred, Fran and Simon managed to get
permission to create temporary accommodation in the form of pre-fab cabins, so they could still live on site while running the farm and collating the documents required to re-submit their plan- ning application. “We put in for a larger house than we actu-
ally wanted, fully expecting it to be knocked back,” says Simon. “We were delighted when East Riding of Yorkshire Council finally granted planning permission, without change to its size, on October 13 2013 – the date is permanently etched in my mind!” “Until this point Simon had refused to plan
anything at all to do with the build in case it was rejected again,” says Fran. “The whole process was really draining. Then suddenly it was all systems go and we could start to look ahead.”
Continued overleaf... [
It took five long years of patient negotiating, perserverence and optimism to get the go-ahead for a four-bedroom family home
hen Fran and Simon Ackerley bought 200 acres of prime East Yorkshire farm land in 2008 they
THE HIGH GLASS WINDOWS IN THE HALLWAY FILL THE PROPERTY WITH NATURAL LIGHT
]
THE FOUR BEDROOM HOUSE IS A MIX OF TRADITIONAL AND MODERN DESIGNS AND FURNITURE
selfbuilder & homemaker
www.sbhonline.co.uk
23
LOW POINT
We laid water based underfloor heating topped with screed, which
took six weeks to dry, and were ready to lay the tiles when we were told the underfloor heating needed to have been
running for a week beforehand. We didn’t have a boiler at that point, so everything was put on hold while we got it installed and the underfloor heating on by the end of November. That gave just
enough time for the tiles to be laid and kitchen units installed before Christmas
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