PHILIP and Kay Palmer, who run the award-winning Dartmoor Chilli Farm, erected five timber buildings on the site without permission.

It led to a retrospective application going before Dartmoor National Park Authority Development Management Committee on Friday for two battery buildings, freezer and packing store, kitchen, and chocolate and packing store, backed by more than 50 supporting letters.

The authority had awarded the chilli farm a Dartmoor First Award, while among others it was voted Best Green Business at the South Devon Excellence Awards.

Officers had recommended refusal contending the buildings and associated uses at Rosebarn Nursery, Higher Ausewell, Ashburton, were not considered necessary to meet the proven needs of agriculture and did not have an essential requirement to locate in open countryside.

Planning officer Louise Smith said it was contrary to policy and would be detrimental to the character and appearance of this part of the national park.

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