[caz]

So I submitted my first ever planning application. I've got 8 acres of green belt and requested full planning permission for a track down one side from the road leading to a small wooden barn.  I asked for the same as what my neighbour already got permission for in 2012. I studied my neighbours application as to what I needed to include plus how much detail to add.


The council have replied after 2 months waiting saying they will have to refuse as there is no ecological survey included or a biodiversity net gain assessment.
This is the first time either of these things have been mentioned. The same officer emailed me about a month ago asking small details about my application and never once mentioned about these assessments not being present.
It's really doesn't feel user friendly for the ordinary person.
Have they made a mistake in asking for all these things or have they all came in since 2012 when my neighbour got permission?
If I owned more land and was classed as a farmer would I just have needed to notify them of the work I intended to do and not have needed all these assessments?

[arobwk]

Seems a bit over the top, but 9 years is a long time with ever greater focus on the environmental impact of any and all developments.  I don't know whether there would be a green-belt factor as well (?!).
At under 5ha you have some permitted development rights which do not need to be notified to Planners (unlike holdings over 5ha) - I'm a bit rusty and it might well be that your particular track-way does indeed need full PP.
Personally, I believe I would have a created a "raw" trackway with vehicle movements and then gradually throw on some gravel as and when needed.  (Latter technically needs a free Waste Exemption from the EA.)
Where are you [member=4534]caz[/member]

 

[landroverroy]

I agree with arobwk. In fact that is exactly what I did. Bought a small field with a barn in the middle but no obvious track. So created a track by driving to and from the barn, from the gateway and then putting some road planings down along it's length.
The planners did try and make something of this, but we told them we were just maintaining the existing track. After all - what is the point of having a barn with no means of accessing it?  They accepted our explanation.[size=78%]  [/size]

[arobwk]

I've reviewed my own 2016 PA:  the only track-way I mentioned was a short stretch (20m say) over uncultivated ground requiring clearance of "moor-stones" for access to my Field-3 stores site.  I made no reference to any other vehicular route/track through Fields 1 and 2 to my stores and none was asked for.
Not very long after, the mapping service that my Council uses (obviously based on satellite imaging) recorded a trackway based simply on the routine imprint of my car wheels.  So suddenly I have an extant "Trackway" rather than just a routine across-fields route !!  I haven't bolstered with toppings, but there are sections that will need track maintenance to prevent undue rutting and muddy patches over the course of time. Make of as one will (along with landroverroy's experience) !!

[caz]

I kind of need this track asap for the winter as it has become almost impossible to maintain caring for my horses who live there without being able to drive up and down the field. It's quite a steep slope which is why we need the track as cars are gonna get stuck especially in the gate ways. Plus its my elderly parents who help 50% towards caring for the horses while I'm at work and they can't manage walking up and down the steep hill any more.

It doesn't make sense to me to get these assessments as if I wanted I could plow the whole field without any need for ecological assesments and any habitats over the whole field would be gone.

I feel like they have me in a corner where I will have to just get the track laid and face whatever consequences arise. I just can't wait any longer.

[Forestlens]

I’d throw animal welfare into the conversation if you have to gain vehicular access to the barn to feed livestock/deliver supplies etc. Always worth talking to them in my experience rather than just submitting a impersonal application.

[doganjo]

I hadn't a clue what these were so I googled - does it help?  Maybe you donlt need any agents and can do it yourself?

A Biodiversity Net Gain Assessment compares baseline conditions to post-development plans. Biodiversity Net Gain is achieved if the post-development plans provide a net improvement to the biodiversity of a site.

The following steps are used to calculate biodiversity net gain or loss

A field survey is undertaken to collect pre-development habitat data.
Post-development habitat data is defined using the landscaping plans.
Pre-development habitat data and post-development habitat data is converted into ‘biodiversity units’ using a biodiversity metric. Additional biodiversity units may be added to post-development data using offsite compensation or biodiversity credits.
The Biodiversity Net Gain or Loss is calculated using the difference between the pre-development and post development habitat data. It is often presented as a percentage.

An ecological survey is the process whereby a proposed development site is assessed to establish any environmental impact the development may have. With any potential new land development, along with cost estimates, insurance, structural warranty, and planning permission, you will need to conduct various site surveys, including an ecological survey.

A new development may be:

A personal residential build

A new commercial site

An addition to an existing development

A ecological site survey will assess all areas of your site, and and will likely encompass any considerations, issues or problems that will need to be addressed from an ecological standpoint.

An ecology survey considers the site’s immediate environmental impact on existing habitats, and will help developers established the necessary next steps to ensure the development can continue.

Developers will also need to consider environmental legislation, to ensure they are abiding by the law throughout development and land planning.

[arobwk]

Horses - they don't make any planning issues any easier !!!  Hopefully other TAS horsey folk will be able to offer some thoughts, but it does sound like you might be in a bit of a bind. 

You haven't [member=4534]caz[/member] still actually said what you propose for a permanent trackway surface.  (Is that where the problem lies ?) 

However, you will have to do something, obviously, and I can only go back to the suggestion of just getting on with it. 
THAT SAID, don't make the track-way too "permanent" such that it would be a right pain (costly) to remove (or plough-in  ).
Not sure what you could use, but a thorough mulching of the "track" with bark chippings or similar (not exactly cheap) might get you through in the short term.

OF COURSE, the question to be asked for the long-term (it has occurred to me) is whether your declared use of the land/barn still counts as agriculture.  As you will almost certainly know:  only the simple grazing of horses is permitted on agri' land.  Re the barn, it might depend on what you have declared with regards to use of the barn (e.g. storage or stabling) !

Subject to any further/better TAS advice/suggestions, I would now suggest having a good talk with your planning officer (if they will pick up the phone these days) and explain, more fully, your appreciation of the situation - especially IF your declared use of your land/barn is still classified as agriculture. 

If your land/barn use has to be reclassified (due to intended usage falling outside of agricultural use) I would suggest renting a field short-term for the horses and re-establish your land's agri' status by ploughing it up and then re-seeding and creating (at the same time) a "farm" track to the barn !!?

I believe I've exhausted my thoughts on your problems, but obviously will be interested in how it all pans out.  Very good luck.




 

 

[caz]

Thanks for the replys. I told them the barn would be for storage of tools and equipment for maintaining the land and fences and storing hay made onsite. And storing my trailer.
I'm thinking of looking at renting some land to make what I've got over 12 acres and giving them notice of the work instead providing it's that straight forward to do it that way?

[arobwk]

Thanks for the replys. I told them the barn would be for storage of tools and equipment for maintaining the land and fences and storing hay made onsite. And storing my trailer.
I'm thinking of looking at renting some land to make what I've got over 12 acres and giving them notice of the work instead providing it's that straight forward to do it that way?

Given your quoted comments above regarding the barn, I don't see why you should need to grow your "holding" to 12 ac before "building up" an all-weather track-way as a permitted development on a sub-5ha agricultural plot.  (You still didn't say though [member=4534]caz[/member] what sort of "track-way" you've proposed !!!)

[arobwk]

Forgot to say, but, importantly, it would be really good if your intended track-way was not a bare tarmac sliver across your field/s.  Alternatively, a gravelled "track" would be a quite eco-friendly way to go with some "weeds" eventually poking through with them then being subject to just some occasional trimming so that mid-track growth is not scrubbing the undersides of your vehicles too densely.
!!

[caz]

It's road planings. I have the contractor all lined up and this is what he's said he is using. I struggled to get someone. I got messed about by 4 or 5 different companies/tradesmen and this is the only one to come out and actually give me a quote. I have seen their work so I know they aren't cowboys and do the job properly.
I don't have time or equipment to build it up unfortunately. It will all have to go in at once by the contractor.

[harmony]

Someone in our village has just been served notice to take out a track they put in across their field.


I thought even if you have the amount of land that you don't need full planning permission for an agricultural track that you still have to demonstrate you are an agricultural business.

[Bywaters]

Don't be sucked into the idea that giving notification means you can just "tell em and do it "

Planners can and will, make it difficult if they don't like it
I had to paint a breeze block shed green, I had to move it to where "they" wanted it.........
A right PITA

Mine is a holding, was not for horses (ie was for livestock), over 5ha (just)
25 years ago mind, but I can't see things being much different

[arobwk]

Someone in our village has just been served notice to take out a track they put in across their field.

I thought even if you have the amount of land that you don't need full planning permission for an agricultural track that you still have to demonstrate you are an agricultural business.

I would suggest "agricultural purpose" only (rather than a trading agri' "business").