A HIGH Court judge has ordered a magistrate and his wife to demolish a farm building they converted into a dwelling without planning permission .

John and Celia Williams have also been ordered to pay nearly £10,000 towards the Forest of Dean Council’s court costs.

The couple, who said they have been nominated for a conservation award, built ‘The Granary’ timber barn legally at Eastwood Lodge Farm, Parkhill, Woolaston in 2006, but began using it for residential purposes in 2008.

A retrospective planning application for a change of use to a home was turned down in 2016 and Forest planners passed enforcement action ordering the demolition of the building by April 2018.

Applications to convert it into an agricultural worker’s accomodation and a holiday let had also been previously rejected.

The deadline for its demolition was delayed by the couple applying to the High Court for a judicial review.

They claimed they only began living in the building to provide round-the-clock attention while calving and lambing on their 46-acre smallholding, and throughout the rest of the year because of the welfare needs of their animals, which include cattle, sheep, pigs and hens.

Its appearance was unchanged from the outside, the building was eco-friendly and it only had “the bare neccesities” for someone to stay there, such as a shower, toilet and a woodburner stove.

Applying for planning permission in 2016, Mr Williams said: “In order to run the farm efficiently and for the welfare of the animals, we must attend on a daily basis 365 days of the year.

“We have recently been nominated for an award for conservation work and access to the countryside… (and) we have been paying council tax for a residential dwelling since 2014.”

Appealing for “common sense to prevail,” he added: “I have served the County of Gloucestershire as a magistrate, court and bench chairman without fear or favour for 25 years.”

But the council argued that there was no special need for someone to be living at the site permanently, and a new dwelling, which included a bed and a kitchen area, in the open countryside was in breach of its development strategy.

At Cardiff High Court, Mr Justice Garnham QC backed the council by upholding its order to demolish the building and awarded costs of £9,847 against the couple.