A countryside florist will be allowed to stay after a retrospective planning application was approved.

The Flowers For All Occasions shop is located in a converted barn at the front of Brattle Farm In Five Oak Lane, near Staplehurst.

After an objector pointed out it was contrary to the Local Plan to allow retail development in the area and warned there were other farms along the road with spare buildings who now might wish to follow suit.

It was argued that would weaken businesses in the nearby village where there was already a vacant shop at The Parade, which, she suggested, would be much better suited for the florist use and wouldn’t require customers to travel by car to reach it.

The florist’s countryside location which doesn’t have street lights, pavements, mains drainage or street-cleansing meant it did not have the benefits of the services needed “to help keep a shopping area safe, clean and tidy,” planning documents revealed.

But Staplehurst ward councillor Cllr John Perry (Con) said: “I can’t see a single thing against it. We should be encouraging the rural economy.”

While Rob Jarman, the council’s head of planning, warned: “There is a good reason why we seek to keep retail facilities in village centres; it’s because they are a sustainable location. This is not.”

He added the florist’s was not a “farmshop”, since it did not sell any produce grown on the farm and all the flowers were imported.

The applicant, William Thompson, apologised for the retrospective nature of the planning application, adding: “As a farmer, I didn't understand the planning process that had to be followed.”

He said no significant changes to the building beyond the addition of wooden cladding which had actually made it more in keeping with the rest of the buildings had been made.

Details of the application can be viewed here, with application number 23/500505.

The application was approved by a majority vote.