A timber company near Nailsworth is urging planners to rubber-stamp operations it says first started in 2009.

Hardwood and softwood lumber merchant Traba Timber, based in Tinkley Lane, between Nailsworth and Nympsfield, has used planning consultants from Acre to regularize B2 (commercial use) on the site, which is owned by Michael Hair.

Planners at Stroud District Council told the applicant the business needed a lawful development certificate if it wanted to continue operating in this isolated rural area.

Already in 2008, the SDC had authorized the construction of a building for general agricultural use at the address, but planners have now challenged the current use of the site for non-agricultural purposes, where Traba builds and erects sheds before ship them.

Tim Brookman, Acres Consultant intervened to prove that the continued use of the current activity dates back to a point that renders the activity exempt from enforcement action. To that end, a series of time-stamped aerial perspectives from Google highlight that the carpentry work goes back beyond the 10-year time frame in which planning can take place.

Mr Brookman told the SDC: “The evidence presented regarding the use of the land and buildings, as well as the application made under section 191 of the Act, demonstrate that, on the balance of probabilities, the agricultural land of Tinkley Lodge was used for B2 purposes for more than 10 years. years before the submission date, there is no evidence to the contrary.

He added that the company was subsequently “deemed lawful and exempt from coercive measures”.

The communication continues: “It appears from the applicant that the site was purchased in 2008 and an existing lumber business was moved to the site. A building permit was requested and then approved for a new building, which was erected in early/mid 2009. “

In a separate statement regarding the application, Mr Hair told planners he had moved the work from a neighboring site on Tinkley Lane after buying Tinkley Lodge in 2008.

He said: “As the company has grown, the size and complexity of projects have increased.”

Aerial images, he added, demonstrate land use as such for more than a decade.

Another neighbor, to Easter Park Cabinsattested to these allegations and stated that the site had been “used as a lumber yard for the production of timber frame buildings since at least July 2013”.

● Nympsfield Parish Council was asked for its views on the application and was given until November 13 to respond.