Plans for farm shop and cafe approved

Plans for a farm shop and cafe in Roade have been approved by West Northamptonshire Council

A council has unanimously approved an application for a farm shop and cafe.

The proposals, signed off by West Northamptonshire council, will transform a disused fertiliser store on the Courteenhall Estate in West Lodge Farm, near Roade, into the business, along with two industrial storage units.

There would be 53 parking spaces for visitors created in the surrounding yard.

Johnny Wake, who runs Courteenhall Farms, said: "This will be really exciting, not only because it will enablesus to sell some of our products to local consumers, but we want everyone to feel like it's their shop."

Courteenhall Estate said the project would repurpose the redundant building, complementing other recent industrial conversions at the site, such as offices and storage units.

The council changed several conditions in the original plans and said the farm shop and cafe could open on Sundays.

Operational hours for the commercial spaces may run between 08:00 and 18:00, Courteenhall Estate said.

Mr Wake added: "[The new shops] would provide somewhere where local growers can directly access the local community."