A couple have been told to leave their historical farmhouse as land around the home has been earmarked for housing development.
David and Karen Yates have been told by their local council they have 11 days to leave their 500-year-old home in Bolton. The couple were hit with a notice to quit on December 31 and must leave the property by February 24.
Although no planning application has yet been submitted, the 12.5 acres of land around the farmhouse where generations of David’s family have farmed for 300 years has been earmarked for housing development. The couple run a cattery with capacity for 84 animals and a manufacturing hub for making barley straw which kills green algae in addition to Karen’s beauty and nail treatment business.
Karen, 56, and David, 67, say they would be happy to surrender the farmland around their cottage for development if they could remain in the house and continue to run their businesses. As reported in Manchester Evening News, they are currently homing numerous cats for elderly people who are in hospital.
Karen said the legal battle with the Bolton council had ‘taken a toll’ on their mental health.
She said: “We’ve nowhere to go. We just want to carry on running our businesses, all of which are viable. It’s having an awful effect on our mental health. This has been going on for so long.”
Meanwhile, Coun Les Webb, who represents the Bradshaw ward, said he has attempted to arrange a meeting with himself, the Yateses and Bolton council’s chief executive Sue Johnson, and that this has been refused.
He said: “There’s been a long protracted negotiation over the future of Earls Farm. However, I would like to believe I am a fair and reasonable individual about most things to do with council business. All I know is that if I was in the position of the chief executive, I would have one last go at seeing if there could be a resolution to this situation which allies them to stay in their house.
“I know the chief executive has a tremendously difficult job, but I also this has had a detrimental effect on their mental health. I asked if she would consider coming back to the table with a view to keeping them in the farmhouse rather than making them homeless, but there is no appetite for this.”
A spokesperson for Bolton council said: “We have reached a confidential agreement with Mr and Mrs Yates via mediation, and we are unable to comment further on the terms of that agreement.”
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