THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

ROGERS FARM GARDEN CENTRE

Copyright Valerie Martin 2004

Rogers Farm in the mid 1980s was run by Andrew Farquharson and

much of the produce being sold went to his fruit shops in Montague Fruit Stores in Montague Street, Worthing and Strand Fruit Stores in Goring prior to his expanding and starting the Rogers Farm Garden Centre on the A24 in Findon.

Andrew Farquharson in his
Rogers Farm Garden Centre

The Rogers Farm Garden Centre celebrated its official opening at the beginning of July 1985 and was open seven days a week from 8.30 a.m. until 6 p.m.   At this time a  Children's' Playground and Pets Corner was also planned for the future.  

Part of the glasshouse was sectioned off and housed tables and chairs provided for customers to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee.   You may think that this is nothing new.   But in the summer of 1985 there was no charge and the extra touch added to the hospitality and friendliness at the Centre at the time.   It was planned that this area would be able to provide full coffee shop facilities and a restaurant by the winter.

A battle had commenced in March 1985 though.   Within three weeks of purchasing 12 acres of land adjacent to Rogers Farm, Andrew Farqharson had received a warning from Arun District Council that he needed planning permission to form a car park, use of greenhouses for retail use and the sale of goods not grown on his land.

The following month, the Arun district Council threw out his application to relocate the farm shop into the main greenhouse on the grounds that it was contrary to the county structure plan, an area of outstanding natural beauty and any increased use of the A24 access would be hazardous.  

After continuing to trade and ignoring their refusal, Andrew was served with three enforcement notices in October 1986 ordering him to cease trading.

The former land owner then swore an affidavit confirming he had. in fact, been using the land as nurseries for nearly thirty years!   The document stripped the Council of their armour.  Meanwhile, Andrew had also strengthened his attack by placing an appeal to the Department of the Environment.   

The autumnal fields of Rogers Farm in September 2004.

That same year, a Noise Abatement Order was served on a Findon resident in December 1986.  This was following noise at Rogers Farm.    It followed a string of complaints from Findonians over clay pigeon shooting on the Rogers Farm site.  

The Arun District Council received several dozen complaints over the noise when the shoots were conducted on Sundays.   A Council Officer (after visiting the farm ) declared their complaints were justified and the co-organiser of the shoot, Trevor Elwin-Holden, was said at the time to be furious.   He said that the first shoot back in September that year had been monitored with a decibel meter and there was more background noise made by a juggernaut truck on the A24 — being twelve times worse than the gun fire.

In January 1987,the Findon Parish Council  heard that monitoring of the clay-pigeon shooting at Rogers Farm was continuing.   The Arun District Council had issued a noise abatement notice and any infringements would result in prosecution.

In June 1987, champagne corks popped in abundance when Andrew Farquharson won a two-year planning battle against Arun District Council for his Garden Centre.  The Arun planning chiefs unanimously passed the Garden Centre.   His victory meant the value of six acres of his land had soared by £500,000 to over £750,000 and opened the way for his plans to expand the Rogers Farm Garden Centre to its full capacity.

30-year old Andrew Farquharson of Rogers Farm was hopping mad back in January 1988.   The last time he had seen his V-registered Land rover was mid-September 1986.   

He had just collected the truck from a garage and was on his way back to Findon from Arundel when the vehicle broke down.  He parked it in a lay-by opposite Poling Service Station and locked  it and asked the garage to collect and repair it. 

He subsequently reckoned the council officials had turned highwaymen after his Land Rover disappeared.   It was reported that tidy-minded officers of the Arun District Council had the £2,500 truck towed away because they thought it had been "abandoned".   Andrew received a call from the police who had traced him through the DVLC to check whether it was stolen!  There was no chance that Andrew could retrieve his property because it had already been sold by the scrap merchants who cleared it away.  

Continue if you would like to read about the 1990s and the Winds of Change at Rogers Farm.

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This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.

E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com