[2024] UKUT 232 (LC)

I distinguish between the hereditament as a whole which I shall refer to as ‘the farm’ and the ‘farm attraction’ which is the part of the farm which contains the leisure activities and animals. The farm is located about 1.5 miles northeast of Andover town centre, adjacent to open countryside and close to the Walworth Industrial Estate. The A303 trunk road is some 1.5 miles to the south and its junction with the A3093 provides a convenient point from which to access to the attraction via the spine road of the Walworth Industrial Estate.

The farm, which opened in 1981, currently occupies two sites either side of the London to Salisbury railway line. The northern most site contains the farm attraction, utilising buildings that previously formed part of an arable farm of several hundred acres. Today, the farm attraction itself extends to about 5.5 acres, and there is an adjacent area of about an acre which is used for car parking. No farming, other than the keeping of livestock, takes place on either part of the site. The farm attraction previously extended to about 9 acres but in 2008 a triangular parcel of land of some 3.5 acres was sold to Taylor Wimpey for a housing development. The farm continued to occupy the land under a licence until the middle of 2016. I will say more about the terms of the disposal and its impact on the assessment later in this decision.

The southern site, which is gently sloping, is about 9.5 acres in total of which two acres is used for car parking and the remainder is used for grazing by animals that form part of the farm attraction. The railway runs on an embankment of about 5 metres in height and access for vehicles and pedestrians between the two sites is by means of a brick-built bridge under the railway.

The farm attraction contains three principal elements: activity areas, animal pens and buildings, and a large play barn. The outdoor activity areas contain equipment such as trampolines, climbing frames and latterly inflatable jumping pillows. The buildings housing the animals are a mixture of traditional brick and tile farm buildings which are used for farm animals and several purpose built, largely wooden structures used for more exotic creatures such as meerkats and reptiles. The play barn is of portal frame construction with profiled metal cladding. It replaced a smaller wooden barn that was destroyed by a fire in 2012. During the construction of the new play barn, some of the indoor activities took place in a marquee, and the new play barn opened in 2013. At that point the site transitioned from seasonal to year-round opening. Mr Waters took out a loan of £500,000 to finance the construction of the new building.

In addition, separate buildings contain toilets, a shop, café, and storage facilities. Until recently Mr Waters lived on site in a large, two storey detached house. He used three rooms in connection with the farm attraction business. The site also contains a bungalow which at the material day for this appeal was occupied by Mr Waters’ daughter who also works in the business. It is now used as an office and store. The plan below shows the location of the farm and areas of land which it previously and currently occupies.

Mr Waters owns the farm with his brother James who he describes as a silent partner, although James does help with some of the maintenance from time to time. Mr Waters has worked at the farm since he left school in 1981. In his witness statements he described the various roles he fulfils at the site and his ‘hands on’ style of management. He does not employ a manager to run any function and has quarterly directors’ meetings with his brother.