Reprieve for couple whose home is a coach

A couple living in a converted coach on land at Littlehempston without permission have been given a reprieve by local planners.

They have been living at Jacobs Barn for the last seven years, but Teignbridge Council planning officers had advised councillors to send them packing.
They said it was an unauthorised use of agricultural land. Planning permission was refused in 2021, and an appeal against that decision was dismissed a year later.
A meeting of the council’s planning committee heard that the unauthorised use had continued after that, with the couple living in the coach rather than a mobile home which had been there before.
Members were advised to issue an enforcement notice giving the occupants six months to leave, and take their coach with them.
But four local residents wrote to the council saying the couple should be allowed to stay as they are part of the community and do not have any negative impact on the area.
They care for livestock on the site, and one letter said: “They wish to continue to live on site to manage the animals and not be a burden on the state, as enforcement action would make them homeless.”
Cllr David Palethorpe (Lib Dem, Ipplepen) said the couple had shown ‘exemplary stewardship’ of the site and had become valued members of the community.
“This is a young couple making their way in life,” he said. “While I acknowledge the legal framework, I believe there is a balanced and pragmatic way forward that avoids unnecessary hardship.”
The committee voted in favour of enforcement action, but deferred it until February to give the site occupants time to make a fresh application for planning permission in the meantime.
If no planning application is submitted, the enforcement action will go ahead.