The owner of Woodhouse Farm, near Great Ayton, says farmers were having to become entrepreneurs and use their land and buildings in different ways to make money
Joe Willis, Local Democracy Reporter
14:53, 01 Jan 2026
The entrance to Woodhouse Farm(Image: Google )
A North Yorkshire farming family which has diversified its business by opening a cafe and farm shop is facing opposition to further expansion. The owners of Woodhouse Farm, near Great Ayton, are seeking retrospective planning permission for various changes to the business.
In 2015, planning permission was granted for a cafe, known as Fletchers Farm Coffee Shop, to be created out of a redundant barn. Permission for a farm shop in a disused cow shed was approved two years later.
Since then, the farm shop has expanded and various businesses, including a dog groomer, a pottery studio and a cycle shop, have opened in existing buildings and new units at the farm, which has been run by the Fletcher family for five generations. Applicant Mark Fletcher told the Local Democracy Reporting Service they had been informed by the council that they needed to submit a change of use application to cover the changes.
He said: “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 cafe 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.”
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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