SHALFORD PARISH COUNCIL
Please see pdf version here: Agenda for Meeting 16th September 2026 Members of the Council are hereby summoned to attend the annual meeting to be held at Shalford Village Hall on Wednesday, 16th September 2026 commencing at 7:30pm for the purpose of transacting the following business:
The meeting will be open to the public unless the Council directs otherwise.
AGENDA
1. Apologies for Absence.
2. To receive member’s declarations of interest and dispensations in items on the agenda. (Dispensations should be requested from the Clerk before the meeting).
3. Minutes:
Acceptance of minutes: ‘Meeting of the Parish Council held on 15th July 2026’
4. Public participation session with respect to items on the agenda and other matters that are of mutual interest or local concern:
(A maximum of 15 minutes shall be allowed for public question time, and it is requested each member of the public speak for a maximum of 3 minutes).
5. District and/or County Councillor:
To receive District and County reports
6. Riverwatch Citizen Science Testing:
To receive report (Cllr Hull)
7. Shalford Village Hall Committee Report:
To receive report (Cllr Gould)
8. Redfants Farm Land Sale:
To discuss and decide to request BDC put an Article 4 directive on land being sold at Redfants Farm to ensure the integrity of a very important historic meadows is not lost through the division of the field into plots. These water meadows have been identified in our NP as a non-designated heritage asset and are a key component of our valued landscape.
9. Community Tree Planting Grant: To discuss and agree if there are any areas in the Parish we could seek to plant up:
Small Grant Application 0-£1,000
Medium Grant Application £1001-£5000
Larger Grant Application £5,001 – £15,000
10. Christmas Update:
To discuss Tree/Decorations/Banner/Attendance
11. Overgrown Private Hedges:
To discuss and agree the action to be taken by the Clerk.
12. Clerks Report:
To receive update on action points from the last meeting (Clerk)
13. Finance:
i. To receive the financial report and approve payments and to ratify additional payments made since last meeting (Appendix I)
ii. To receive and review the Budget Monitoring Report (Appendix II)
iii. To agree to make the final payment of £20,689.83 to DigiGo (ECC)
iv. To agree to move £30,000 from Unity Reserves a/c into Unity Current a/c.
v. To agree the purchase of a Council laptop using the new Corporate Card.
vi. To review external auditor report after Completion of Limited Assurance Review for year ended 31/03/25 has been received from PKF Littlejohn.
14. Planning:
(1) To review and agree a response to all planning applications including those that have arisen since the agenda was prepared.
(2) To retrospectively agree the submitted response to the following planning application:
26/01771/FUL- The Mount , Hulls Lane, Shalford
“Retention of replacement building and change of use from agricultural barn to Class E (g)(iii) light industrial use. Expired: 1st September 2026
** Shalford Parish Council submitted a Formal Objection see Appendix III **
15. Freedom of Information/Procedural Enquiry:
To discuss emails rec’d Sunday 6th September:
1. Freedom of Information / Procedural Inquiry – 26/01771/FUL
2. Urgent Procedural Inquiry – Planning Application 26/01771/FUL (The Mount, Hulls Lane)
*The Council will resolve to exclude the press and public from the remainder of the meeting due to confidential business (Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, S1(2) *
16. HR Committee:
To receive report from last meeting and consider any recommendations.
17. NALC Pay Awards for 2026/27:
To agree to pay latest pay award backdated 1st April 2026
18. Items for the next agenda:
Tommy Statue Installation / VAS Data Update / Draft Budget Proposal for 2027-28 / £50 voucher donation to SVPS Xmas Raffle / NHP timeline for Clerk duties required
19. Chair to Close Meeting: Time Closed:
20. Next Parish Council Meeting:
21st October 2026.
Jill Boot
Clerk & RFO to Shalford Parish Council Dated: 10th September 2026
Appendix I
(see pdf)
Appendix II
(see pdf)
Appendix III:
FAO: Planning Department
Braintree District Council
Planning Application Reference: 26/01771/FUL
Date: 10/09/2026
Dear Sir / Madam,
Retention of replacement building and change of use from agricultural barn to Class E (g)(iii) light industrial use – The Mount, Hulls Lane, Shalford
We Object and Comment as follows:
Shalford Parish Council Formal Planning Objection:
Shalford Parish Council wish to register formal objection to the retrospective planning application for the retention of the commercial workshop and continued operation of Tailored Wraps Ltd at The Mount, Hulls Lane, Shalford. The objection is based on clear material planning grounds, including harm to rural character, inappropriate commercial intensification, highway safety concerns, landscape impact, noise and disturbance, and conflict with local and national planning policy.
Location Plan – Reference 001 revision 02 Dated 04 August 2026
Please note this artifact is not accurate, there is in fact a large hard standing area next to the building, the plan shows grass.
1. Inappropriate Commercial Use in the Countryside:
The proposal seeks to regularise a commercial automotive business operating from a large industrial style workshop in open countryside. Tailored Wraps Ltd provides:
• Vehicle wrapping
• Paint Protection Film installation
• Window tinting
These are commercial automotive services, not rural or domestic activities. The use falls under Class E(g)(iii), which is intended for light industrial processes appropriate within residential areas—not for vehicle based commercial operations requiring large workshop buildings.
The Supporting Statement itself confirms the building is a portal frame industrial structure, wholly out of keeping with the rural setting.
2. Harm to Rural Character and Setting:
Hulls Lane and Redfants Farm Lane are narrow rural lanes characterised by:
• Agricultural land
• Equestrian uses
• Scattered residential properties
• Quiet rural activity
The introduction of a large commercial workshop and associated vehicle-based business represents a significant and harmful change to this rural character.
The applicant’s Supporting Statement admits: “Partial views of the structure are available from certain locations in specific seasons.”
This is an acknowledgement of visual harm, not an argument against it.
The building is clearly visible, industrial in appearance, and incompatible with the rural landscape.
3. Commercial Intensification and Vehicle Storage:
The Supporting Statement states: “Vehicles remain at the workshop for periods of two to three weeks.”
This confirms that the site is being used for commercial vehicle storage, not simply occasional wrapping work. Long term storage of customer vehicles is a material intensification of commercial activity and is inappropriate in this location.
The applicant also claims the workshop “improves efficiency”, which by definition increases commercial capacity.
4. Highway Safety Concerns:
Hulls Lane is:
• Narrow
• Without footpaths
• Used by horses, walkers, cyclists, and agricultural vehicles
• Unsuitable for commercial traffic
The Supporting Statement claims an average of “1.4 customer vehicles per week”, which is not credible for a commercial vehicle wrapping business. Vehicle wrapping typically involves:
• Customer drop-off
• Customer collection
• Consultation visits
• Supplier deliveries
• Waste collection
• Occasional staff or training visits
Even modest commercial traffic is inappropriate for a lane of this nature. The proposal therefore results in unacceptable highway safety risks.
5. Noise and Disturbance:
Despite the applicant’s claims, we aware of complaints made regarding noise, factually commercial vehicle wrapping involves:
• Power tools, Heat guns,
• Cleaning machinery
• Vehicle manoeuvring
• Door slamming
• Customer arrivals and departures
These activities generate noise incompatible with a quiet rural environment.
The Supporting Statement confirms daily operation during “normal working hours”, demonstrating that this is a full-time commercial business, not a minor home-based activity.
6. Conflict with Planning Policy:
The development conflicts with the following:
• National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – protecting rural character and preventing inappropriate development in the countryside
• Braintree Local Plan policies restricting commercial development outside settlement boundaries
• Policies requiring rural businesses to be small-scale, appropriate, and non-intrusive
A large industrial workshop for automotive services does not meet these criteria.
7. Retrospective Nature Is Not a Justification:
The applicant repeatedly refers to the business having operated since 2018. However:
• Retrospective applications must be judged as if the building were not already present.
• The applicant’s failure to seek permission earlier is not a material consideration.
• The council must assess planning harm, not business history.
8. Hulls Lane is a Designated Quiet Lane:
Quiet Lanes are minor rural roads which are appropriate for shared use by Horse Riders, Walkers, Cyclists and motorised users. Official quiet Lanes will have advisory signs in green, at either end to show motorised users clearly that the road is a shared space, also indicating to drivers that other more vulnerable users may be using the road.
Highway code rule 218 states you should drive slowly, carefully and be prepared to stop to allow people extra time to make space for you to pass them safely.
9. Hulls Lane is Protected Lane, officially evaluated by BDC under its rual conservation framework:
These are ancient lanes forming part of minor roads and trackways connecting villages, hamlets, scattered farms and cottages. Many were used for agricultural purposes, linking settlements to arable and grazing fields.
They vary in width depending on the traffic using them and some over time have become sunken lanes.
Today they are an important feature in the landscape and have considerable ecological value as habitats for plants and wild life.
Protected lanes are included in the Braintree Local plan, Policy LPP 69.
LPP 69: Protected Lanes:-
The District Council will conserve the traditional landscape and nature conservation character of roads designated on the Proposals Map as Protected Lanes, including their verges, banks, ditches and natural features such as hedgerows, hedgerow trees and other structural elements contributing to the historic features of the lanes.
Any proposals that would have a materially adverse impact on the physical appearance of these Protected Lanes or generate traffic of a type or amount inappropriate for the traditional landscape and nature conservation character of a protected lane, will not be permitted.
10. Fundamental Misrepresentation of Existing Use and Lack of Agricultural Baseline:
The application heavily relies on the assertion that this proposal constitutes the ‘retention of an existing building and a change of use from agricultural’. This statement is a profound misrepresentation of fact designed to exploit rural diversification policies, and it must be rejected by the Council.
No History of Agriculture: The property consists of less than 9 acres, has never operated as a commercial agricultural trade or business, and has no farming history. The applicant cannot provide an authentic Agricultural Statement to validate any historic or current agricultural use on this site.
Purpose-Built for Car Wrapping: The 22-metre blue tin building is not a redundant agricultural barn. It was purpose-built specifically to house the unauthorized car-wrapping enterprise, directly replacing a previous, significantly smaller barn structure that the applicant also erected without planning permission.
Because the building lacks any lawful agricultural baseline, the proposal cannot be assessed under rural diversification policies or treated as a sympathetic reuse of a farm building. It is an entirely retrospective, purpose-built industrial unit positioned illegally within 4 metres of a Protected Lane highway. The applicant is seeking to systematically bypass planning regulations through false descriptions, and the application must be refused.”
11. Conclusion:
For the reasons set out above, the development results in:
• Harm to rural character
• Fundamental misrepresentation of existing use and lack of agricultural baseline
• Visual and landscape impact
• Commercial intensification
• Noise and disturbance
• Highway safety risks
• Conflict with planning policy
• Designated Quiet Lane
• Protected Lane
• Fundamental Misrepresentation of Existing Use
The proposal is not appropriate for this countryside location and should not be regularised through retrospective permission.
We therefore respectfully request that the Local Planning Authority refuse planning permission and consider enforcement action to remove the unauthorised building and cease the commercial use.
Yours Sincerely,
Shalford Parish Council