A DECISION on a planning application that sparked more than 100 letters of protest has been adjourned after some last-minute information was submitted.

Sophia Fletcher and her partner Nick Crowe want to live in a mobile home off Puddlesplosh Lane for three years to get an agricultural business off the ground.

New Forest District Council’s consultant says it would be necessary for someone to live there if they are to make a go of a business plan to produce specialist goods. However, he is questioning whether the business could actually make money, as no evidence has been submitted to prove there is a sufficient market.

Objectors say it would set a precedent that could lead to acres of rural land being occupied by unattractive structures in the area. On Monday a container for mushroom growing was moved on to the site, causing further concern, and another container was moved on to the site yesterday.

The couple, trading under the company name of C & F Gourmet Farm Foods Ltd, with the address Sequoia Farm, had two applications before district councillors today - one to live in the mobile home and the other to retain an area of hardstanding and containers.

The mobile home arrived on February 22 and has been subject to stop notices from the district council.

Officers say no “significant adverse impact” would be caused to neighbours, but the “mobile home would appear an incongruous feature”. They recommended NFDC’s planning committee refuse the residential application but approve, subject to conditions, the hardstanding and outbuildings to be used by the business.

The couple's planning consultant Robert Tutton submitted an agricultural report to planners but the committee did not feel they had had enough time to digest the information. The issue is likely to be debated at the next planning meeting in Lyndhurst next month.