A Wootton Fitzpaine flower and foliage business which has provided items to Buckingham Palace has been given permission to expand.

The business has been given planning consent for a processing building/workshop and two polytunnels at the site off Champernhayes Lane.

The processing building will be sited adjacent to the northwest boundary, north of the existing polytunnel with the two additional polytunnels close to the southern corner of the site.

The timber frame building requested initially was to be 16m x 7m with a roof height of 4.7m, having rendered straw bale walls, board timber cladding and a corrugated roof, but was reduced in size during the consultation process. It will have an open space which runs the length of the northern side and two rooms to be used for welfare and office purposes including an office/kitchenette and toilet.

The two polytunnels include a traditional design for one closest to the site fence with the second polytunnel, slightly longer, of  Spanish design, which allows for the plastic to be tied back or removed completely depending of the growing conditions desired. Within the winter months the plastic sheeting on this polytunnel would be removed completely.

Owners Jonny and Zanna Hoskins said in their application to Dorset Council that the current conditions on the site are inadequate to fully support the business and although they have a rented workshop in Bridport the distance from the growing site is a problem, resulting in work being carried out under makeshift shelters, subject to the weather.

Char Valley parish council supported the application although said it was originally concerned about the scale of the processing building, later supporting the reduced size. A letter of objection asked for the application to be refused because the site is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, although the AoNB team believed that it could be achieved without detriment to local views.