A popular Essex farm café is fighting to stay open after the local authority said cafes should only be allowed to operate in the town centre.

The Farm Café by Black Pig catering company, which can be found at Chigborough Farm, Little Totham in the Maldon district, has been widely praised as a valued asset in the area. Chigborough Farm boasts numerous fishing lakes, a camp and glamping site, a food retail outlet and smokehouse. There has been a food hospitality provider onsite for over 40 years, with a restaurant established in 1982 closing in 2022, and a café operating since 2018.

The application which has been put forward to Maldon District Council is for a change of use of an agricultural building to a café with associated car parking, although it is stated that this use commenced in 2021.

However, the council's planning officers have recommended the application for refusal on the basis that "the development is for a restaurant, which is classed as a 'town centre use' outside of an existing town, village, or located employment area. By virtue of the scale of the restaurant provided, it is not considered to be ancillary to the wider farm operating at the site".

The report continues: "A café is a main town centre use but the site is not within a town or local centre, and the only information which has been provided relevant to this issue is that there has been a restaurant on the site since the 1980s with two businesses serving food for the last two years without any noticeable impact on the vitality and viability of similar businesses in Maldon.

"This unsubstantiated claim is insufficient to demonstrate that the development has not had and will not have an adverse impact on the vitality or viability of the District's town/local centres. Therefore, an in-principle objection is raised to the cafe proposed in this location."

Speaking to LDRS, applicant Paul Tallowin of Chigborough Farm said: "I believe the planning officers have misinterpreted the Local Development Plan by classing restaurants and cafés as conducting exclusively 'town centre' activities.

"From our point of view, we have over 10,000 people visit Chigborough Farm annually, and I don't think the case officer is well-placed enough to decide whether or not the café is ancilliary to our business.

"It hasn't been proved to us that the café would be appropriately positioned in the town centre. Because its external catering functions are very seasonal, it would require delivery vans to be parked nearby. It may not even be a viable proposition for the town centre.

"This café should continue to exist in the country where there is the supportive evidence of over 40 years of trading."

Councillor Nick Spencely (Lib Dem., Heybridge East) who will speak in support of the application at an upcoming planning committee meeting, told LDRS: "Sadly Heybridge councillors don't have voting rights on this application as it falls just outside of our boundary, but I am hopeful that councillors will vote against the officers' recommendation, as I believe this is a much-loved part of the Heybridge community.

"The café provides employment for local residents, including opportunities for young people with disabilities. It is an example of sustainability, using local suppliers."

The application will be discussed at a meeting of Maldon District Council's planning committee on January 10.