Fletchers Farm Coffee Shop at Woodhouse Farm near Great Ayton is seeking retrospective planning permission for business expansion
Jade McElwee Content Editor, Joe Willis and Local Democracy Reporter
11:11, 03 Jan 2026
A photo of the existing farm shop submitted with the application.(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
A North Yorkshire farming family that has diversified by launching a café and farm shop is now encountering resistance to further development plans. The proprietors of Woodhouse Farm, situated near Great Ayton, are applying for retrospective planning permission to formalise various modifications to their enterprise.
Back in 2015, planning consent was secured to convert a disused barn into a café, now operating as Fletchers Farm Coffee Shop. Two years on, approval was granted for a farm shop to be established in a former cow shed.
Since that time, the farm shop has grown, and several enterprises – including a dog grooming service, a pottery studio, and a bicycle shop – have set up in existing structures and newly-built units on the property, which the Fletcher family has managed for five generations.
Applicant Mark Fletcher explained to the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the council had advised them to submit a change of use application to regularise the developments. He commented: “Over time, other businesses have wanted to come here because of the synergies between the different little businesses.
“Because we’re using the silage pit for a car park rather than a silage pit, that also needs change of use. We want to do everything right so that’s why the retrospective’s gone in.” The application has attracted two comments from local residents who are opposed to the changes.
One objector said: “My main objection is to the massive increase in traffic from the time when there used to be a very small café in the garden and a handful of cars visiting the site.
“Now, as well as a large restaurant, several more developments have gone ahead, causing a massive increase in the volume of traffic down Little Ayton Lane, what is a single-track road.
“This causes danger to pedestrians, cyclists and riders alike and also a high possibility of damage to other vehicles.”
Another added: “Allowing what is effectively a nascent retail park will set a precedent, making refusal of other similar applications impossible in this and other rural locations.”
But Mr Fletcher said: “The last thing we’re trying to do is upset it. At the end of the day, we’re just trying to survive, keep the farm going for future generations.”
A photo of the existing farm shop submitted with the application.(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
Mr Fletcher said farmers were having to become entrepreneurs and use their land and buildings in different ways to make money.
“There’s too many things against you when you’re farming. The input costs are out of your control, the growing conditions and the weather are out of your control, and the selling costs are sometimes out of your control.
“So you end up doing things that add value like what we’re trying to do with our own produce off the farm.
“It’s only small-scale at the moment, but you just think this is the way forward for our business.”
The application is currently being assessed by North Yorkshire Council’s planning department.
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