Lower Bush: Past, Present (And Future...?)

Today, I took a walk through Mays Wood and down past the east of Dean Farm... 

Dean Farm, view from the east side...

Fortunately this valley has not been taken over by the adjacent vineyard and remains unspoiled - though it has had its own share of upheaval in the past...

Walking down Tomlins Lane at the back of Dean Farm brings you out by the eastern edge of what used to be called "Pig Field" at Lower Bush. This is now owned by the vineyard and has been partly planted with vines...

No "please" or "thank you"... but at least it's not "Keep Out!... 

By the way, I am sure that folk in Cuxton and the surrounding area will be delighted to know that this "Livestock Grazing" is being funded by a £350,000 hand-out to Vineyard Farms from National Highways. Once upon a time, the rich landowners of Cuxton used to pay a tithe to the church so that the less well-off in the parish could be provided for. Nowadays, it seems things are very much the other way around: tax-payer's money is now used to subsidise a private estate owned by a billionaire tax-exile. 

Vineyard Farms even get to buy an ATV with their public cash windfall. Their boy racers will be so pleased.

Along the edge of Pig Field adjacent to Tomlins Lane, there were at least a dozen or so Broad-Leaved Helleborine orchids in bloom...

Broad-Leaved Helleborine...

Broad-leaved Helleborines...

View of Upper Bush from the top of Pig Field...

Same outlook (roughly) as above, 1972...

Fifty years ago, the woodland plantation between Barrow Hill and Pig Field didn't seem to be as extensive or overgrown as it is today - and nor, of course, did we have the vines. The view above seems to be from slightly further south than I could manage, given the extent of the woods today...

Same view as above, c. 1910...

Pig Field in 1910 was home to a hop garden, the output of which would doubtless have been dried in the oast houses at Upper Bush (long since demolished in the 1950s)...

Upper Bush farmhouse, demolished in the 60s, used to be opposite where the existing farm buildings are today. The tops of the oast houses can be seen on the left...

View towards Cuxton from where the North Downs Way passes by the northern end of the vines...

The warm, wet summer bodes well for the grape harvest...

View looking west from where the North Downs Way crosses Bush Road...

View south-west across Pig Field from Bush Road...

Towards Bush Road from the north-eastern corner of the Pig Field vines...

As above, looking westwards across Bush Road...

View of Forge Cottage, the North Downs B&B and (what used to be) Brick House Farm...

The same view from the North Downs Way, as above, 1972...

Barn conversions, Bush Road...

As above, 1972, before conversion...

As can be seen from the pictures above, Lower Bush has been, and still is, a relatively peaceful and unspoiled place. That could well be about to change.  Many folk have wondered why the strip of land between the North Downs Way and Tomlins Lane has been left weed-strewn and neglected, rather than planted out with vines.  It has been left for Vineyard Farms' Plan B...

The proposed Vineyard Farms Plan B winery...

During the planning inquiry back in March, it became apparent that Vineyard Farms had not really thought too hard about what they would do if they were not granted planning permission for their billionaire-backed £30m vinicultural pleasure dome. It seems as if they thought that their Lord Foster Xanadu was so wonderful and iconic that it would just sail through the planning process. Well, it didn't.

That has left them in a awkward predicament, with the output of 700 acres of vines to process, but with nowhere to do it. Perhaps a less cocksure company might have sorted that out before they planted the vines, but hey...

During the inquiry, a "Proof Of Evidence" package (which seemed to me to have been rather hastily prepared) was introduced, stating what VF would do if they didn't get the planning permission they wanted. As an observer, it seemed to me like a bunch of veiled threats, and ones which were irrelevant to the inquiry (which was surely supposed to be about the proposed Upper Bush winery, not what would happen if it didn't get granted). 

"Approve our plans, or we'll build a load of huge agricultural tins sheds, right next to Bush Road and overshadowing resident's houses. We could build them much further back from the road to avoid that, but no, we aren't going to."

"Oh, and we'll bring all of our farm traffic down Bush Road rather than over our fields, just because we can. And we won't bother composting our grape wastes, because we'd much rather add to the traffic by getting lorries to come and take it away..."

Bush Road, with the entrance to Tomlins Lane on the left...

Same view as above, showing what the winery sheds would look like in situ...

All of this can be done under "permitted development rights", which allows agricultural buildings to be built without planning permission, provided they do not exceed 1000 sq.m. in floor area or 12m in height... 

View looking east from the junction of the North Downs Way with Bush Road...

As above, with VF's proposed sheds...

However, "permitted development" only allows the building of one such shed every two years. If they stick to their plans (and the law doesn't change), it'll take them nearly 20 years to get what they want...

The Bush Road houses that are threatened by the VF sheds...

Vineyard Farms have six weeks to lodge a High Court appeal against the Planning Inspectorate's refusal. That expires on September 5th. It could take up to 18 months for the appeal to be heard, and then up to another year to hold a second inquiry and reassess the application. And the chances of success are not high - only about 35% of planning appeals that get to the High Court are successful. Only about 1 in 200 complainants actually bother....

...and all the while, the precious grapes need harvesting and processing...

I don't seriously think VF will go for the "full set of sheds" option. I believe they are too hubristic to back down, and that they will appeal against the Planning Inspector's refusal of their vainglorious palace. And if that fails, we will see a cut-down version of the Foster design for Barrow Hill put forward, something that may satisfy the objections of the Inspector.

VF are too in love with their dreams to ever let go...

Common Blue butterflies in Pig Field (female on the right)....