Alpaca farmer allowed to build home on farm as she looks to expand to more than 130 alpacas

Debbie Roe runs Felley Alpacas, on Felley Mill Lane South, Underwood, and has been expanding her business since the pandemic.

She had applied to Ashfield Council to build a house on her farm so she can tend to her animals on-site 24 hours a day.

The farm is currently used to house 71 animals across 23 acres of countryside, including sheep, alpacas and llamas. Horses, chickens and ducks are also kept on the land.

However, she says there are plans in place to expand to more than 130 alpacas, run education courses and employ local people on the farm.

In planning documents, she asked the authority to let her build a one-and-a-half-storey, two-bedroom home on the land to help her grow the business.

However, the authority’s planning department had recommended refusal over the potential impact it could have on the greenbelt.

This was without special circumstances being demonstrated, with the authority asking her to submit business accounts so she can “demonstrate the essential need to live on-site permanently”.

If she could prove the home is needed to improve the business, it may give the plans more weight when attempting to build on the countryside, but council officers said this documentation indicated the plans were “premature”.

However, when councillors debated the plans, Ms Roe said she has plans to expand the business and has been finding ways to develop it for the past three years.

She told the meeting: “The Alpaca Society and Defra recommend, without exception, that with the number of alpacas I own, I should live on-site to be within sight and sound and prevent any fatalities.

“I pride myself on having a 100 per cent birthing and survival rate by following expert methods.

“Even with the challenges of Covid, my business has gone from strength to strength.

“I am in negotiations with a local alternative education provider to offer sessions for the most vulnerable and deprived young people.

“In the future, it’s my aspiration to employ local people as farmworkers through apprenticeships and beyond.

“There will be minimal impact by the build of the house.”

Councillors agreed and approved the scheme.