[WinslowPorker]

Hi james if memory serves me correct you are in Scotland so not sure on your planning laws, however in England you are allowed 75 cubic metres of development/extension under the 'Permitted Development' rule without the need for planning. so perhaps you can find a couple of sheets of rusty old corrugated fencing and make a real eyesore of the animal shelter, obviously you can make it nice inside for the animals though.

Like i said not sure on Permitted Development in Scotland but may be worth checking out 

[jameslindsay]

Hi james if memory serves me correct you are in Scotland so not sure on your planning laws, however in England you are allowed 75 cubic metres of development/extension under the 'Permitted Development' rule without the need for planning. so perhaps you can find a couple of sheets of rusty old corrugated fencing and make a real eyesore of the animal shelter, obviously you can make it nice inside for the animals though.

Like i said not sure on Permitted Development in Scotland but may be worth checking out 

Cheers for that, yes I am in Fife, Scotland.

[jameslindsay]

There is not an issue about us keeping the animals and we have 100% backing from out Animal Welfare Officer about the care and attention our animals recieve. Who the hell would have neighbours???

[Sandy]

It's worth checking boundaries, our neighbours have a high wall dividing them and it turns out it is listed, and the wall was not included when the old pub was sold so the nearest relative lives in Australia and received a nice big surprise and a not so nice big bill!!Umm, maybe I should take a close look are are deeds

[Roxy]

Re animals near food outlets.  Its quite usual here, for pubs to have pets corners, with pigs, goats, lambs, hens etc. and all those pubs serve meals.  Its not as though they are inside the buildings is it, so surely thats ok? 

I had the neighbours from hell at my last place, and I vowed I would never again live next door to anyone.  They made my life a misery, complaining to the council constantly about us.  And the council admitted the neighbours did not have a valid complaint, but they still had to follow it up.  In fact one of the council people suggested my neighbour was "unstable"!!!!  So many people are in the same position as you, James.  Its all fine, then suddenly an issue arises and things turn nasty. 

I would do whatever it takes to get this sorted now.  You want peace of mind, not years of legal battling.  Do hope you get sorted, and peace is restored.

[Hardfeather]

You're right Roxy...it shouldn't affect food service as long as the animals are kept outside. The trouble with my friend was brought about because his nearest neighbour (400 yards away) complained about the pigs. Although they were fed pellets and free-ranged, this neighbour suggested to the 'authorities' that they were being fed left overs from the food outlet.

Once these people in authority get wind of such possibilities, it is a real task to convince them otherwise. The thing went round the houses and involved planning, health issues, and trading standards My friend had done nothing wrong. All his pork was slaughtered correctly and butchered and packed accordingly, but his neighbour cast aspersion on all that too.

When all that was proved wrong, the neighbour tried to say the pigs were too close to human habitation and that he could smell them at his house when the wind blew that way. When the wind blew the other way he could smell the local sewage works, but that didn't seem to bother him.

The weird thing was, this man had been a good neighbour for years till my friend's mother died; then he started making trouble, yet there had been pigs there for years.

It doesn't matter to some people what the truth is as long as they can cause trouble for someone.

[Helencus]

You have my every sympathy. My neighbours complained about my field shelter since we then had 2 years of the most stressful time too ing and fro ing with the council until we finally got change of use and permission for stables but along the way they took exception to my veg garden stating I could not grow veg in an agricultural field as I have raised beds and bark around them.. Too domestic ergo I'm trying to turn a field into a garden. Tbh I've showed them all my cph stuff and for now they've let this lie but they're back in a few weeks to check the stables so I guarantee they will raise it again.. Absolute bar stewards with nothing better to do than to lord it over lesser mortals.. You'd have less hassle if you tried to open a gypsy campsite trust me..  Try not to let it ruin your life though I know it took over ours for months and months with us getting stressed just at the sight of the neighbours.. They even called the council last week to complain about the works we are doing to permanently site the stables.. Seems they didn't look closely TD the approved plans and they thought the stables were going behind the trees near the river.. Got to laugh cause they wouldn't let us put them out of sight as we wanted we had to put them away from the river totally blocking the view of the people who complained sometimes there is a god ! Good luck and like I say don't let it take over else your blood pressure will suffer

[Daveravey]

It doesn't matter to some people what the truth is, as long as they can cause trouble for someone.

Unfortunetly, this country has more than it's fair share of these folk

[lumsden]

Do the complaints mentioned above refer to gardens being used for agricultural purposes (ie keeping pigs) or are these neighbours complaining about land that is legally defined as "agricultural"? I am new to all this and this particular discussion thread interests me as I am doing some research for an idea I have. 

[Helencus]

Hi Lumsden in my case the complaint from the planning enforcer is that a sectioned off area close to my house in an agricultural field is being used as a garden. I grow veg in it with animal fencing and raised beds but apparently that's too domestic!

[Jackie]

Lumsden you can keep pigs in a domestic garden. Your neighbours may moan though.

 A few people do it in central London apparently, quite successfully too.

[Roxy]

There is a thing called domestic curtailage, which in simple terms means your garden.  And that means what it says - garden.  Not a bit extra that someone has fenced off from the field. Planners are strict on this.  You have to put in for change of use to domestic, and in alot of cases its refused.  Our neighbour across the field extended their house, then wanted extra land from our field as a garden area.  Planning turned it down as it was definitely agricultural land.  But I had given my brother a small plot of land behind his barn.  This is on the understanding that it is kept as "field" ie. unmown, uncultivated, it cannot be used as a garden with plants and bushes etc.

[Helencus]

I know this Roxy which is why it is unmown with no plants or bushes it is veg that is all with agricultural fencing as I also have stock in there.

[Helencus]

Just read this and sorry sounded very abrupt of me totally unintended! The council by me see veg growing as domestic it's not even the raised beds they object to it's me actually even growing veg in a field which is madness to me.

[Roxy]

   Surely veg is classed as agricultural, or horticultural, or something?  You see allotments all over the place, so is that ok then?  And some of the makeshift sheds, well, they must make the councils blood boil.  But that all seems to be allowed.  I cannot see why your veg isn;t.

Having said that, another neighbour had a small paddock.  He has had to apply for change of use to domestic to put raised beds, and a greenhouse, as someone reported him to the council, and what he was doing was supposedly wrong.....even though it was the previous owner that had changed the use, not him.