Plans to erect an agricultural shed within a farm have been passed despite concerns being raised by ward councillors, owners of a neighbouring farm, a local estate agent and the Congleton MP.

Rick Snelson submitted plans to Cheshire East to erect an agricultural implement shed to house vehicles.

The application site is a gravelled area within Brook House Farm, which is an equestrian business, accessed via Brookhouse Lane, Congleton.

The site is adjacent to a large boundary stone wall that separates the Brook House Farm from two adjacent dwellings, Brookhouse Farm and Brook House to the southwest.

Horse paddocks and the open countryside lies to the north, with the buildings of the farmstead to the east. The site is within the green belt.

A letter of objection was received by the owners of Brookhouse Farm.

They felt the proposed building was situated very close to the border of Brookhouse Farm and considered that it would, by reason of its location, proximity and size, be "very over-bearing" and "dominate" every aspect of their home and garden.

Their objection also mentioned that the applicant allegedly had approximately 17 acres of land and could reasonably put a building, not necessarily an agricultural building, anywhere on their acreage where it would "impact on nobody at all".

They also highlighted that they have their house on the market for sale and this building would be "detrimental" to their sale and could also affect the value of their property.

A letter of objection was also received by Chris Hamriding Lettings & Estate Agents, who raised concerns about the saleability of Brookhouse Farm should planning permission be granted.

Fiona Bruce MP requested that the Local Planning Authority considered the concerns of Brookhouse Farm residents in the determination of the application.

Congleton ward councillors David Brown, Rob Moreton and Denis Murphy (Congleton Ward) also raised their objections to the application.

They felt the reduction in size of the building was not enough and would still have a detrimental impact on the countryside and due to the severe impact of amenities to the neighbours.

The implement shed is to house a horsebox, farming equipment and vehicles to maintain the fields.

This facilitates the riding of horses being exercised and trained for pleasure and competition.

The original design for the implement shed was a rectangular building, 30 metres by 15.5 metres, with a maximum height of 5.54 metres.

It was subsequently redesigned to a quadrilateral building, measuring (at its largest) 20 metres by 8 metres, with a maximum height of 6 metres.

These changes were undertaken to reduce the building's size to the minimum required to house the three agriculture vehicles in question.

Additionally, the proposed location was amended, re-siting it further away from the boundary wall, to further lessen its visual impact.

The proposed implement shed would be located in "useable proximity" to the main 'farmstead' buildings according to a Cheshire East planning officer.

It would be in a corner of the applicant's site, next to a high brick wall to the south and mature trees to the east.

A Cheshire East planning officer's report stated: "Taking these factors into account, it is concluded that the development would not have an adverse effect on the openness of the green belt or conflict with the purposes of including land in it."

Whilst the proposed implement shed was deemed to be sited in an "acceptable position" in terms of the wider landscape and for the practical use of Brook House Farm, it was accepted that the location was near to Brookhouse Farm and to a lesser degree Brook House.

Various other locations for the siting of the proposed implement shed were discussed on the three site visits by Cheshire East.

These were either at the suggestion of the Local Planning Authority, residents or local ward councillors.

This was to establish if an alternative compromise location could be explored.

All these alternative locations were discounted, either due to "operational needs" of the equestrian business, "unviable" infrastructure requirements or greater visual impacts.

Reorientation of the shed was also discussed and was considered "unworkable" by the applicant due to required turning circles and access needs.

A Cheshire East planning officer mentioned that there is a foul drain from Bookhouse Farm that crosses the application site to Brook House Farm.

However, the officer's report stated that this was a private sewer and was therefore a civil matter between the adjacent landowners.

The officer's report concluded: "It is not considered that the application proposals will cause an unduly detrimental effect on neighbouring amenity through noise and disturbance and traffic generation.

"Given the size of the proposed shed, its location and existing boundaries, it is also not considered that the application proposal will cause an unduly detrimental effect on neighbouring amenity through a loss of privacy, loss of sunlight and/or daylight.

"It is acknowledged that the proposed shed will cause some visual intrusion to Brookhouse Farm.

"It is also accepted that there are other positions that the proposed shed could be located on Brook House Farm (equestrian business) to cause no visual intrusion to Brookhouse Farm (residential property).

"It is considered that the proposed shed in its current location, would not cause a significant loss of amenity to Brookhouse Farm through visual intrusion to warrant refusal."

The application was approved.