A CAR collector and pub owner has overturned an enforcement notice ordering the removal of more than 30 ’old and scrap’ vehicles from his farm land.

Mark Dew, of the Malt Shovel pub in Ruardean, has now applied for full costs against Herefordshire Council after the planning inspector ruled in his favour over his Doward Farm site in Whitchurch.

He says his car collection, amassed over 30 years, including 90-year-old vintage motors and five Jaguar classic cars, is being stored in barns and around the farm with a view to opening a motoring museum.

But neighbours have claimed the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty site has become a “blot” on a “scenic valley” near the “King Arthur’s Caves” visitor attraction.

Mr Dew appealed against the council’s order to remove the vehicles from the land last year, and planning inspector Andrew Dale has now backed him, saying the council’s enforcement order was “ambiguous” over which bit of land was involved.

In his judgement, Mr Dale said: “Enforcement notices should be drafted with precision and not lead to ambiguity or unintended consequences.”

The council appeared to agree with Mr Dew, he added, that the siting of old and scrap cars, vans and non-agricultural vehicles on parts of the farm had become lawful owing to the passage of time, but those areas had “not been specified in exact terms.”

“The enforcement notice does not specify with sufficient clarity the steps required for compliance and the land where the breach is alleged to have taken place,” concludes Mr Dale, who visited the site in July.

In his appeal, Mr Dew claimed that vehicles stored onsite for 20 years have appeared on the Classic Car Rescue TV show, and he was a member of the MG Owners’Club who wanted to “preserve motoring heritage”.

While “some cars, particularly those stored outside, have rusted”, they were “used to supply parts when repairing and restoring other cars”, he said.

Herefordshire Council, backed by Whitchurch and Ganarew Parish Council, passed the enforcement notice ordering the removal of vehicles from land around the farm buildings, which is overlooked by the Upper Wye Gorge Site of Special Scientific Interest, the Wye Valley Woodlands Special Area of Conservation, and several Wildlife Trust sites.

Wye Valley AONB manager Andre Blake, in his submission to the appeal, said: “The private collection of random scrap and curious cars is visible in the open countryside and negatively

affects the landscape character of undulating pasture, woodland, occasional dwellings and dramatic hills.

“The use of the site for the storage of scrap/old cars does not contribute to the conservation or enhancement of the natural and scenic beauty of the Wye Valley AONB, nor the historic environment.”

Richard Cleare, who lives near the farm, added: “There has been no effort to protect or refurbish these vehicles, so they cannot be considered in any way a prized collection. The vehicles have just been left to rot in full view of habitation and visiting walkers.

“To allow this blot on this scenic valley would make a mockery of protected planning policies.”

Mr Dew’s appeal claimed that any change of use had “no perceivable impact” upon the landscape or neighbouring amenities, and the land was not “readily visible” from a public viewpoint.

Cars in his collection include “a Sinclair C5 micro car, a 1926 Bull Nosed Morris and a 1924 Essex”.

Some vehicles were acquired from the Beaulieu Motor Museum, and the British and Yorkshire motor museums, he said, while he also owned an SS 2.5 Jaguar, three E-type Jags, a mark 2 Jag, an original Costello and a Jowett Bradford.

Herefordshire Council were asked to comment, but had not replied by the time the Review went to press.