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A "passion and enthusiasm"-driven farm providing therapeutic experiences for vulnerable people has put forward plans to create a holiday let, which will help boost its income after the blows of covid and the cost-of-living crisis.
The application, from Michaela Yates of Bramble Farm in St. Mary, seeks to convert a one-bedroom agricultural worker’s unit into "farm-stay" visitor accommodation.
In a statement accompanying the application, planning and environmental consultancy Steedman Planning explained that the site currently operates as a "care" or "social farm", where people can interact with animals in a safe space and feel part of a team.
Bramble Farm is currently open two days a week to a number of clients with learning difficulties.
The application relates to a vacant one-bedroom unit of worker accommodation, which is attached to a chalet-style bungalow.
However - in a supporting brief also accompanying the application - the farm said that, as all of its staff are paid above the living wage, the need for the project to rely on on-site accommodation (as has been the case for farming traditionally) is "reduced significantly", with the other dwellings meeting its current requirements.
It added that the addition of the farm-stay holiday let would "add an alternative diversified income stream" that would help secure the existing operations while also providing "a valuable offering to the island’s tourism industry".
The brief also said that the Bramble Farm Stay would be one of only three farm stay lets on the island, citing Hamptonne Country Life Museum and an arable farm in Trinity as the others.
"Due to the nature of Bramble Farm and the need to manage access to the site when open to vulnerable users, visitors to the cottage will have access to the farm during the evenings and weekends (subject to a health and safety briefing), allowing guests to walk the farm tracks and watch the animals," the brief continued.
Pictured: A section of the planning brief accompanying the application for the farm stay.
"The cottage’s location is ideally situated adjacent to our beautiful north coast and Coastal National Park. With a large proportion of our visitors citing walking as a major activity and our natural open spaces as a reason for coming to the island, we’re in an ideal location for visitors looking to access the national park."
It added that the facilities would also be able to provide "a unique holiday experience" for families with specialist needs.
The brief added: "Whilst the main function of the cottage will be to provide much needed income for the existing care farm functions, we will be able to use the facility (in the off season and where breaks in commercial bookings allow) to house families which need a little extra help.
"The ground floor living area can be converted to a second bedroom for ease of access and there is a fully functioning bathroom/wet room on the ground floor to facilitate this very special holiday experience for families with vulnerable or disabled members. We also hope that the facility can provide a level of support to local families who may benefit from a unique ‘staycation’ experience without the stress and risk of travel whilst also offering a possible respite provision in the future."
Pictured: A section of the planning brief showing where Bramble Farm is located.
The brief also explained that the pandemic and the cost of living crisis have "both had significant impacts" on its operations.
"The team is gradually opening up the farm more often and to a wider variety of service users, but to do this effectively the project requires further financial resources.
"In our instance, converting the facility to a holiday let will in fact allow the farm to diversify its income to provide additional funding for the care farm as well as helping ensure the long term sustainability of the care farm provision," it continued.
"At Bramble Farm the project is very much driven by passion and enthusiasm with income streams derived from products such as Boer goat meat, egg sales and the sale of Pygmy goat companion animals however the addition of the Farm Stay holiday let will add an alternative diversified income stream that is insulated from the commercial threats to food production and so will add security to the overall operation as well as hopefully providing a valuable offering to the island’s tourism industry."
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