AN ex-banker who quit city-life stress to be a “forest person” is facing a planning battle after neighbours branded his business a “hobby”.
Jon Wright, 44, and his wife Holly, currently live inside a large geodesic dome with their 10-year-old daughter on their land in Winchester, Hampshire.
The family had applied for retrospective planning permission, meaning if it is not approved they will not be allowed to live and work on their land.
Locals have heavily objected to their application, arguing “there is no need for them to live on agricultural land to support a hobby”.
To neighbours, the plot looks less like a working farm and more like a private lifestyle retreat.
Local concerns also include the traffic the business may cause – and that the huge dome they live in is not necessarily needed on their land.
This means the Wright family have now found themselves fighting to keep their livelihood that they have built up for years.
Mr Wright previously worked as a banker, but the company he worked for suffered financial difficulties during the pandemic.
So he moved his family from Hertfordshire to outskirts of the picturesque village of South Wonston, near Winchester.
Mr Wright said: “We were pretty stuffed because the house we were in had a case of dry rot that our didn’t cover.
“We called Citizens Advice, and they said to go to a food bank.
“We had been part of this system. Paid our dues. Never got in debt, never had criminal records, but in our time of need there was no help for us.”
The family took the plunge to move homes, and set up several businesses on this land all based around nature and wellness.
Their companies include a mushroom cultivation business, a sauna, a plunge , and a forestry school which educates children about nature.
Mr Wright said that he cultivates Lion’s Mane Fungi, which can help people focus and has also been used to help with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
They also grow Reishi, which is good for hormone regulation and can be calming; and Chaga, which is good for sleep.
Their forestry school, JollyMoon, helps bring “families together in nature” and Mrs Wright teaches children about nature.
In 2023, the family previously applied for planning permission to live and work on the land but it was rejected, despite having over 30 messages from people supporting the application.
They have submitted a retrospective planning application to Winchester City Council to continue their mushroom business and also build a lodge on the land that they can officially live in.
Facing several objections, neighbours said that it is creating excess traffic and that it is not a viable business.
One neighbour, Catherine Hawkins, said in her objection: “There is no evidence that the Myndful Mushrooms ‘business’ is, or will ever be a financially viable business, it certainly isn’t at the moment, even though it has been running for some years now.
“Therefore, there is no need for them to live on agricultural land, to support a hobby.
“With all these businesses operating, the use of the track by vehicles has increased substantially.
“The vehicles are not local, so have absolutely no concern or respect for a rural community.
“Walkers, runners and horse riders. So the businesses are having a negative effect on the area.”
Mr Wright said: “There are certainly easier ways to live your life and making across agriculture is not easy.
He continued: “Most of the neighbours have been very supportive. There have been so many nice comments from people.
“People are wanting to see change, but it is just a bit unnerving for people when it is in your neighbourhood.
“It is trying to fit a new system into an old pathway.
“There are many other people doing things with land but we are just doing it a little bit differently.
“Sometimes it feels like we are the forest people, and that is what people say about us, but we are raising a child and we want to demonstrate to her that we can try to have an influence and making a footprint on it.
“People have said to us there is nothing like this in Winchester, it is so necessary.”
Mrs Wright said that the traffic would not be an issue because they use a private road for access to the site.
She said: “We try to encourage people to lift share and cycle because we are right on the edge of the village.
“A lot of people if they come to events, they come in one car so it is not a big issue.
“We have got our own car park and this is a private road. It is up to us what traffic comes up here.”
Mrs Wright said that she is a qualified forest school practitioner who teaches children from the ages of six months up to 11 years old and also holds holiday clubs.
She said: “It is all nature-based. Making crafts, art therapy, and to understand what our purpose is on our beautiful planet.
“I was a singer so I drum. I bring community drummers together and we break bread together. We have sound baths here. We have yoga here. We have meditation.”
Mrs Wright added: “We own this piece of land. Why can’t we live on it? We are doing it sympathetically. It isn’t like we are building like 260 houses on here or making it into a cash cow.
“We are doing this for the love of it. Our daughter is now 10, and we got to a point where what if she turned around to us and said, ‘Why didn’t we do anything about this, about our planet.'”
The planning application remains live.
Winchester council have been contacted for a comment.
