Planning inspectors have shattered the dreams of a London woman intent on keeping alpacas on a farm in green belt land in Kenilworth.
Kierti Vaidya was refused planning permission by Warwick District Council for a Swiss-style chalet and agricultural building she had already built on Faerie Tale Farm in Rouncil Lane.
She and her parents Anne and Kirit Vaidya appealed against the
decision but, after a four-day hearing in December, inspectors last week announced their dismissal of the appeal.
In their report, inspectors said Miss Vaidya, who had ignored an order to demolish the chalet last year, did not have a sustainable business plan.
They also said the proposed building would "harm the openness of the green belt and the character and appearance of the area."
Many residents living nearby had objected to the plans and fears were raised for the public footpath which runs through the site.
Warwick district councillor Roger Copping (Lib Dem, Leamington Manor), who is on the council's planning committee, was not surprised that the appeal was rejected.
He said: "If you are going to have a farm workers' property, it has to be in the Warwickshire vernacular. This land is part of the Coventry green belt and it's sacrosanct from a planning point of view.
"It's not the alpaca farm at all that is the issue. It's the dwelling Miss Vaidya put up. It stuck out like a sore thumb in the Warwickshire countryside.
"We don't want all sorts of bizarre farm dwellings built in the middle of our lovely county."
The Weekly News approached Miss Vaidya but she declined to comment.
Marc Willis, managing director of Willis & Co, the Wiltshire-based company acting for Miss Vaidya, said: "Miss Vaidya is very disappointed but she is still very determined. This is what she has chosen to do and she is very committed to it.
"She wants to stay here and we believe that the reasons the inspectors dismissed the appeal can be overcome.
"We will be in touch with Warwick District Council as soon as we are in a position to put another application forward."
Miss Vaidya's planning battle with the council was recently featured on Channel 4 documentary My Dream Farm, which can be viewed online.
www.channel4.com/programmes/my-dream-farm