Hi all,
It's really good to meet you all. My name is Richard and I've been passionate about sustainable agriculture for some years. I've spent the last few months deciding that I would like to leave my construction job for good and branch out into sustainable ag.
I do have experience growing veg on my allotment and I produce a lot of veg for personal consumption. Now I am looking at starting my own venture propagating plants and growing veg to sell commercially.
I am looking at land to purchase as I have some savings, but living so far south I cannot afford to buy more than an acre or so and it would not include living accommodation, just the land.
I am in a difficult situation whereby I need to care for an elderly relative whom I live with, which means I am stuck until they pass on. In a way this is not so much a limitation as I would not be able to afford a smallholding nearby anyway even if I had the money from the sale of the home I currently live in.
What I have planned is to purchase a parcel of land approximately 1.5 acres, 40minutes drive from where I live.
I am speaking to the estate agent about all the details involved but there are a few considerations they can't help me with, so I've signed up to this forum to hopefully receive some guidance.
1) How do I know which 'use' class the land I am looking at is?
2) there is a track leading from the land to the main road serving many other parcels of land and in the title there is a mention that a contribution must be made toward the cost of maintaining the track but it is privately owed by another land owner, does anyone have experience of this type of arrangement and what it means? At the moment it is a dirt track.
3) I would like to build a large pond/water catchment area in the field, do I need planning or building regulations for this? I would like to be able to capture a minimum 1000m3 of water per year. This would be enough water to run a small market gardening operation. Obviously I would need to make sure that the pond sits below the water table to allow it to collect water naturally as I may have no way of filling it if I don't connect the land up to mains water.
4) does anyone know of an easy way that I can establish where the existing water and electric cables are? Plans etc?
5) how would I go about getting electricity on site if I do not have a home to connect into?
6) site security is very important as there are residential roads nearby. I note that the existing enclosure is a rough pole fence with barbed wire but would not stop a person getting in, how would I go about securing the 1.5acre site to stop intruders? How would I manage the security of the site if I am not living there 24hr a day ?
7) how do I run a business selling plants if the site does not have a mailing address? Is it legal to register myself as a sole trader at my current address and use that?
do I need planning permission to propagate plants for commercial sale from the site?
9) do I need planning permission to erect a poly tunnel 5x15m in size?
Thank you for any information,