[lynne8]

Hello, I'm new to this forum and my partner and I have a small holding in Yorkshire (about six acres in total). We have a small shared access (we share with our neighbour and the access is really tight off a single track country lane)

We've just bought another acre off our adjacent farmer, so we can keep some sheep etc, but getting in and out of the shared access is really difficult with anything other than a small car. We only need access with a larger vehicle about 20 times a year. I approached the planners about removing a small section of wall to make a larger access. The Highways people were great, and said the proposed new access was safer than the existing one. The planner who came to view the wall was really negative and  said no to every suggestion I made to her.

If we get the letter to say it's been declined....I'm thinking of making a gate out of lightweight stone cladding which matched the stone on the existing wall.
What do you al think about this..? If the wall looks the same as it does now, surely they can't have a problem with that....?

We can say 'open sesame' whenever we need to use it....

[lachlanandmarcus]

I dont think any reconsituted stone wall would match the real stone and it certainly wont weather like it so would look worse as time went on. that option would be a red rag to the planners.

However, stone walls do unfortunately fall victim to minor accidents with heavy farm machinery. And having been damaged beyond repair, it's normally sensible when rebuilding to do so in a way that makes sense from a road safety point of view....

The other option rather than asking permission to 'remove' a section of wall (which gets their antenna squeaking) is to ask to reposition a short section ie instead of it going along in a line there would be a gap and the stuff removed from the gap would be used to form short entrance walls.

With your original request, I would think given that the modest increase in size of entrance is required for normal agricultural activity, you would have a decent case for appealing a decline decision( tho Im no planning expert just my opinion!)

Have you put in a formall PP application or is this informal soundings? Many farmers would just do the work, tho Im not sure if the size of the holding might mean you have less freedom (some agric PP exemptions are only for holdings of above a certain size, 5 hectares I think)

[bamford6]

i wouldent do eney think . i had this problem 1 snowey night some 1 knockt the wall over i contacted the council nothink in 3 weeks so i had it build the way i wonted they went mad so i sent them a bill they did no more just paid .same with a tree no way you can move it fell through the shed

[lynne8]

Hi, I applied for full planning permission and I wish I hadn't. All the farmers etc near here have said we should have just done it, made a neat job of it, and that nobody would have complained....Hindsight is a wonderful thing.....

I might end up having an 'accident' if we're refused permission. If we don't have an access, then we end up with an acre of land locked paddock, we won't be able to access it to allow stock on the land, not to mow or fertilise the land.... Not to maintain the rest of the stone walls so it'll look an eyesore in a few months once all the grass and weeds start growing....

Grrrrr..

[dyedinthewool]

Don't dry wall have a habit of loosing stones off the top - like when sheep scrabble over them or push against them

Whose to know you haven't had livestock in there that have pushed the wall

As you can't use the land in it's current state - Softly softly leave it a few weeks - just give it a shove every now and then, surprising how these stones move of their own accord 

Not that i do anything illegally but sometimes planners can be little  *itlers... mostly because you have something they would like but can't afford...

[robert waddell]

i really don't see what the ho ha is about what was once suitable for a horse and cart is not deemed suitable now for modern access
unless you are in a protected area and wanting access for a HGV we have widened 7 entrances (to fields and property)without any complaint and people would complain and have done in the past if they could

[robert waddell]

why did you alert the planning in the first place you should have just altered it remembering to take happy snaps of before during and after

[lynne8]

I know Lillian..... I could kick myself.....
When we applied to put a stable up a few years ago, they passed it..... I thought a small section of wall down in comparison would be easy....