Feathers ruffled in farm row

A FARMER is battling to save his urban farm which opened in the green belt without planning permission.

Ben Lancaster launched Lancaster Park and Animal Farm off Middleton Road West, Mills Hill, in summer, 2011, with horses, donkeys, pigs, birds, small mammals and other animals.

He did not have planning permission for the attraction which includes 41 parking spaces, an access track, animal buildings and shelters and portable cabins.

The council issued an enforcement notice telling the 72-year-old to take down the buildings, remove the paths and re-seed the land.

Following his appeal, a planning inspector will hold a public inquiry at Oldham Civic Centre on Tuesday to decide if the farm can stay. Mr Lancaster, a former demolition worker, said thousands had signed a petition supporting the farm, managed by his daughter Lily.

He added: “It has been my lifelong ambition to do this. I have tried for the last 20 years to get Oldham Council involved and got nowhere at all.”
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