A Somerset couple's 20-year dream of running their own livestock farm is in disarray after Exmoor planners pulled the plug.
Drainage contractor Mike Willes and his wife Fran, a vet, bought a 74-acre holding just outside Wheddon Cross, near Minehead, last year.
But they found the outdated farm buildings were unsuitable for the 90 cattle they had also bought, so started building a new cattle unit next to the nearest main road.
Now, Mr and Mrs Willes face spending thousands more reinstating pasture after the national park's planning committee ruled the development was wrecking one of the park's finest views – and refused retrospective consent.
Mr Willes was warned not to start work without planning permission but insisted he needed shelter for his cattle for the winter and had already moved hay and shipping containers onto the land.
The site is alongside one of the main routes into the national park across the Brendon Hills, and the work has sparked many complaints.
Sarah Brown, Exmoor's head of conservation and landscape said: "When you get to this point you get your first glimpse of open moorland and Dunkery Beacon. Unfortunately, the development is right in that view. It is in a very, very sensitive location."
National park officials have already issued a stop notice and started enforcement to have the site cleared, although Mr Willes has appealed.
Parish councillor John Davis said granting retrospective permission would send the wrong signal to all local farmers.
"To hold a gun to the authority's head is unacceptable," he said.
The plans were also opposed by the Campaign to Protect Rural England, which said the new unit wold erode the character of the park, while the Exmoor Society said damage to the landscape far outweighed any need.
Exton parish councillor Christine Slade said the welfare problems affecting Mr Willes' cattle were "self-inflicted", a sentiment echoed by Molly Groves, from local pressure group Exmoor Uprising, who said: "These are his cattle on his land. Their welfare is his responsibility alone."
Mr Willes apologised for starting the work, saying: "It can all be reinstated. I have obeyed the stop notice and I have not broken the law. I do not wish to be treated like a criminal."
After the meeting, he said he would appeal, adding: "I am bound to be treated more fairly by the planning inspectorate than I was by that lot."
His wife added: "We kept requesting help from the national park and asked if they could come and look at it and all we got was, 'We don't do that. Keep putting in for sites and when we find one that we like we will say yes'. It was when we threatened to start digging that someone more senior came and he suggested this site. To be fair, he said, 'Don't go ahead', but we did because we were beginning to get a little bit needy."
