I CHRISTOPHER JON HENRY MILNE-DAY of MOONRAKER FARM, GASTARD LANE, GASTARD, CORSHAM, WILTSHIRE, SN13 9QN DO SOLEMNLY AND SINCERELY DECLARE as follows:
1.0 My wife, Mrs Nancy Helen Milne-Day, and I are freehold owners of the property known as Moonraker Farm. The farm is identified in red outline on drawing CMD.01, reproduced as Exhibit A of this declaration (“the Site Plan”). Reproduced as Exhibit B is the title register extract reference WT248545 confirming the extent of our current ownership.
2.0 During the early 1980’s I was employed as Managing Director of Griffin Farms who were based at Bowden Hill, Lacock. At that time my (now) wife, Nancy Helen Milne- Day, and I rented Moonraker Farm (then known as Mill Farm) from Griffin Farms for whom we kept laying birds and young stock and to whom sold eggs produced on the holding.
3.0 We occupied the dwelling coloured blue on the Site Plan. The dwelling is subject to an agricultural occupancy condition which was attached to the consent reference 5395 issued by Wiltshire County Council, dated 22nd August 1966. The planning permission for the dwelling is reproduced as Exhibit C of this declaration together with the submitted Block Plan. The condition reads ‘the occupation of the bungalow shall be limited to persons employed locally in agriculture as defined in Section 221(1) of the Acts or in forestry, and the depends of such persons’.
4.0 In 1986 the Griffin Farms business disbanded, and together, my wife and I purchased the farm; we became freehold owners on 1st July 1986 in a sale which also included the livestock. At that time the farm comprised 10.0 acres of land and 2no. dwellings; we continued to farm a mixed poultry business of layers and young stock.
5.0 As of July 1986 my wife and I established the poultry business trading under the name Moonraker Farm. The business continued the egg production enterprise that has been operating during Griffin Farms ownership; grading and packing of eggs being undertaken within the timber building (a former Services mess room) which we purchased and erected for the purpose in 1987.
6.0 We removed the battery cages from Buildings No.2 and No.4, which had been employed under the Griffin Farms operation, and using the paddocks as ranging, we commenced free range egg production which we sold to Oatleys. The remaining buildings were cleared of cages in succession and we then used them to rear broilers, which we sold to Webbs Country Foods, and laying stock which we sold to Stone’s. Reproduced as Exhibit D is a copy of Moonraker Farms Sales Day Book commencing January 1991 and closing on 29th February 2004 which is a complete record of the sales through the poultry business, (‘the Sales Day Book’).
7.0 As a result of the Salmonella outbreak in 1988 we were required to cull the majority of our stock; we briefly diversified into duck rearing using the existing young stock buildings to the south of the main farm.
8.0 We restocked the free-range laying birds in Buildings No.2 & No.4 and broilers in the remaining four houses following the outbreak. However, the egg business became unviable and on 31st January 1994 we received our final payment for free range eggs from Oatleys as shown in the Sales Day Book; during 1994 we removed the stock, cleaned the buildings out and sold off the internal equipment. We used the buildings as our workshop space and for storage purposes. We also granted open storage within the large buildings to local persons for various personal and commercial affects which supplemented the income from the continuing meat poultry operation in Buildings No.1, 3, 5 & 6.
9.0 In 1992 we sold the second dwelling, 3no. poultry houses and associated land to Mr Nightingale and his wife as evidenced by Exhibit E; the title register extract WT109902.
10.0 We were approached repeatedly with requests for storage space, both from private persons and local small businesses and so we made greater provision for the storage uses by moving our belongings to the former grading house and formalising the storage space within the Buildings No.2 & No.4. The available space quickly filled, however demand did not cease.
11.0 On 10th May 2001 my wife and I incorporated the company Garden Hut Limited as the trading name for our storage business being operated within the former free
range Buildings No.2 & 4 at Moonraker Farm. In evidence of this fact I produce as Exhibit F the audited accounts of Garden Hut Limited starting with the year ending 31st March 2002 through to the year ending 31st March 2012.
12.0 In 2002 we turned Building No.3 and later that year Building No.1, over to storage units; this we did, as we had done in the first two buildings, by construction of concrete block walls to 1.0metres in height with ply-board above. The demand for storage space continued and therefore we cleared Buildings No.5 & 6 during 2003 and converted them into storage units. As we cleared the buildings of the poultry equipment, it was dismantled and sold to South West Poultry; these sales are recorded within the Sales Day Book reproduced as Exhibit D.
13.0 Reproduced as Exhibit G of this declaration is an extract from our Cash Book which records receipt of the final payment from Freemans of Newent on 18th December 2003 for the final flock of birds from Moonraker Farm.
14.0 The Sales Day book records an invoice raised on 29th February 2004 to South West poultry. Reproduced as Exhibit H of this declaration is a second extract from Cash Book which records receipt of the payment from South West Poultry on the on 17th March 2004 in consideration of the poultry equipment from the final building. From this date our only income has been derived from the commercial storage business, trading as Garden Hut Limited, at Moonraker Farm.
15.0 From December 2003, when the final flock of birds were taken from the farm, neither my wife or I have engaged in any farming activities either at Moonraker Farm or any other holding and our income from that time has been derived solely from our commercial storage business, known as Garden Hut Limited which occupies the former poultry buildings at Moonraker Farm.
AND I MAKE THIS SOLEMN DECLARATION conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835
Signed: ………………………………………………………..
Declared at: ………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………….. This …………….. day of ……………………… 2013
Before: ………………………………………………………….
Solicitor/Commissioner for Oaths
Exhibit A
Site plan CMD.01
Exhibit B
Title Register Extract WT248545
Exhibit C
Planning Consent 5395
Exhibit D
Sales Day Book 8th January 1991 – 29th February 2004
Exhibit E
Title Register Extract WT109902
Exhibit F
Garden Hut Limited Accounts 2002 - 2012
Exhibit G
Cash Book Extract; December 2003
Exhibit H
Cash book Extract; February 2004 – April 2004