A couple who proudly abandoned their careers to raise their children on a rural field have been ordered to dismantle parts of their countryside dream after falling foul of local council planners. Thomas and Jenny Jackson, who sold their house in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, in 2020 to embrace a self-sufficient lifestyle on a 13-acre plot near Bath, have been given four months to remove unauthorised structures and clear debris from the land.
The couple's rural idyll
In 2020, the Jacksons told how they had left their jobs as a corporate sales account manager and a teacher to give their children a taste of the Good Life. Their land, known as Hazelwood Farm or Plot 0096, featured an outdoor kitchen, bar, lounge area with a straw sofa, and a 'forest school' for local children. They grew fruit, vegetables, apples for cider, grapes for wine, and hops for beer. Their story was featured on Channel 4's Britain's Best Parents.
Council enforcement action
Bath and North East Somerset Council launched enforcement action in 2024, claiming the family had no permission to use agricultural land for residential and leisure purposes. Planners objected to a caravan, outbuildings, a pond, and play equipment. A Government inspector dismissed the family's appeals, ruling that the unauthorised structures must be removed within four months.
Planning inspector Siobhan Watson found that the Jacksons had not proved their activities were lawful. A large charcoal kiln was described as being of 'industrial proportions'. The couple claimed a caravan was a welfare unit for workers, but the inspector found no substantive evidence of agricultural workers or the need for overnight stays. Council photographs showed beds made up inside the caravan.
The family's previous publicity was cited in the case, including a Daily Mail article describing children's play equipment such as a tree house, tyre swing, football goals, trampoline, and pizza oven. The inspector ruled that play equipment is not agricultural, regardless of when children used it. The couple also failed to prove that a woodland shed had planning permission, and a pond created for biodiversity must be filled in.
Mr Jackson declined to comment, other than to say he was considering his next moves.
