A FARM in Hailsham which produces organic dairy products and employs 26 staff, says the business will not be viable if 40 acres of land nearby is built on.
Plans have been submitted to build up to 180 homes on the land east of Battle Road in the town, and nearby business Hook and Son, has published a post on social media claiming they would have to reduce the size of its herd – therefore the business could close.
The farm currently rents the land for its organic herd from the landowner, but Wealden District Council is now considering plans for the development, which has received a number of objections from neighbours and customers of the farm.
The post on Facebook said: “We encourage as many of our customers as possible to object to the development. It is shameful that Hailsham Town Council have not objected to this development – without you, our customers, we are alone in this fight.”
Hailsham Town Council, which are just consultees on Wealden planning applications, commented on the plans in a recent meeting.
Councillors on the committee asked for a wider cycle path to be made, changes to the access road and a large buffer zone between nearby homes. But, it did not object to the development.
The owners of Hook and Son are hoping more customers and neighbours will support them by writing to Wealden District Council to highlight that ‘farmland producing food for local people should not be fragmented and lost, but protected from development, Hook & Son is the main raw milk producer in the UK and it organically farms land on the Pevensey Levels, which is a Site of Specific Scientific Interest’.
The planning application can be viewed on the Wealden District Council website by searching for application WD/2023/1684/MAO.
