By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: A barn conversion to a “hotel” on a farm near Bath is “nothing to do with me,” the leader of Bath and North East Somerset Council has said.
A prior approval request to turn a barn and another smaller building on New Leaf Farm into a 9-bedroom hotel accommodating up to 18 guests was submitted to the council’s planning portal in the name of Steve Horler, the husband of council leader Kevin Guy. The farm in Bathampton is a holiday cottage business, currently offering nine cottages that sleep between two and ten people.
Despite speculation on social media, Mr Guy said he was not connected to the plans. He said: “Apart from Steve [Horler] having a 1.75% share in his dad’s business it has zero connection to me.”
He added: “This simple change of use application has been horrifically spun online by a few malicious individuals, with the intention to mislead members of the public with snippets of the truth, masked by a vale of horrific personal abuse of my family. This nasty personal politics has no place in our community.”
Mr Horler said: “New Leaf Farm has notified the Council of its intention to change the use of an agricultural barn to provide additional holiday accommodation.
“All farmers have the right to change the use of any barn that has been standing for ten years or more. This legislation was introduced by the government over a decade ago to make it easier for farmers to diversify their holdings. There are several business uses that agricultural buildings can be converted to without the need for submitting a planning application. One of these is accommodation. The only requirement is to provide a notification of change of use which in this case has been done.
“New Leaf Farm looks forward to welcoming more guests to visit beautiful Bathampton and to further supporting the local economy.”
The plan is to convert a large barn erected ten years ago and another smaller building behind the existing “garden apartments” holiday cottages. 10 parking spaces would be provided on existing hardstanding, the application states.
But nine people lodged objections on the council’s planning portal, with several people highlighting that the Bathampton Meadows, which surround the farm, had been transferred to the National Trust to prevent it being developed.
The council transferred the 25 acres of Bathampton Meadows it owned to the National Trust when Mr Guy became leader. Another section of the meadows owned by New Leaf Farm was sold to the trust by Mr Horler’s father in a transaction which Mr Guy explained at the time he was not involved in and did not benefit from.
One person who lodged objection to the planned barn conversion said: “The whole point of the 25 hectare giveaway was to protect the area from redevelopment. […] A hotel with car parks is exactly what the giveaway was supposed to stop.”
Another person who left a comment on the application wrote: “The detail provided with this application are sparse and include merely an application form and sketch plan. The application is in a single applicant’s name and it is unclear if the building forms part of the assets of New Leaf Farm Limited or if they are in the sole personal ownership of the applicant.”
The Bath and North East Somerset Council register of interests lists Mr Guy and his spouse as each owning 50% of the shares in New Leaf Farm Ltd, but Mr Horler said this is a dormant company which does not own the farm. The farm is instead owned by his father’s business, DeepAir Ltd, in which he has a 1.75% share and Mr Guy owns no shares.
Mr Horler told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “New Leaf Farm Ltd is a company name that Kevin [Guy] and I registered several years ago and it has never traded. It has a bank balance of £0, has never operated, spent any money or made any money and doesn’t have any assets either.
“I was once hoping to buy the company from my father so set up the company name but the deal fell through many years ago and New Leaf Farm is owned by DeepAir Ltd.”
He said: “Kevin Guy doesn’t work for New Leaf Farm and never has — he has enough to do! He also does not own anything at New Leaf Farm and neither do I.”
Mr Guy said: “It has nothing to do with me. It’s a simple change of use for a barn.”
Bath and North East Somerset Council will determine the fate of the prior approval notification application at a late date.
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