9 replies to this topic

[BenH]

Hi
I'm from a farming background and run several enterprises that would enable me to meet the income requirements of the f2f tests (sheep farming and selling firewood). I appreciate that if I was to try to use the f2f method to gain planning on the 12.63 acres of land I've just bought, I would need something else as well to warrant my presence at all times. Would it need to be a main enterprise though? Would the combination of my sheep, ten or twelve nanny goats (I could perhaps use these to foster orphan lambs onto so they wouldn't be purely commercial) and forty or fifty hens do this. There would also of course be the security considerations for my farm machinery and forestry equipment. I as far as I can see would meet the requirements otherwise just by relocating what I already do, though it would probably not be wise to tell the planners that my main enterprises had operated elsewhere.

[tim'rous beastie]

Hi Ben, welcome to the forum

 

I dont personally think that the sheep goats and fifty odd chickens will amount to a need for a residence, maybe the security thing would help you get a good barn built though, then you could live there while the barn was going up (slowly slowy does it, got to watch your back with all that lifting blocks!!), then you could work on the livestock and fine tune what you need to do to pass the functionality test, if it still exists in the same form as it did before the nppf thingy happened?

 

Keep looking back here as someone who knows the rules will be able to help you, it's quiet just now with people getting outside to work now the sun's out (well here in somerset it is )

[Devon Cream]

If you follow the f2f route you will be able to build up an enterprise to give you a functional need. How many goats and what do you do with them? I do not know much about them. Do they breed at any time of the year? I know that some people have proved a functional need with alpacas..are goats similar so that you could do the same?

 

One of the planners I know has indicated that she thinks the idea of the nppf is to allow small developments in the countryside and not isolated properties and so her dept is going to continue to be guided by the old rules as much as possible so that those of us who wish to live on our land have a chance of doing so.

[BenH]

Hi tim'rous beastie Thanks for that. That's pretty much what I suspected. I've only read a brief summary of the NPPA on plainview.co.uk but it starts it by saying "Importantly, the crux of decision making in planning remains the same. Material considerations such as personal circumstances, or housing/economic need etc can still hold weight in decision making if appropriate." so presumably the functional need test would still exist, even if the format was not exactly the same. So I suppose the broader question is how has it changed?, if it has and how much of my time (%) would I need to dedicate to a enterprise that fulfills it? Bearing in mind the more time I spend on doing things unfamiliar to me the more shakey my income would become.

[xemonsus]

hi we have 14 acres of land and we are using this land as the hub of our business we breed goats which we sell as pets/ grazing companions we breed various birds ie: ducks geese chickens and pea fowl we breed rare breed and rear pigs for meat and also grow a multitude of plants summer and winter in our poly tunnel however we have not tried for planning as yet. Would we be in a good position to try pp ? or would i need to be doing more we do make a living and it is our only form of income. We dont know what the planning office would consider as a suitable income one problem we have is security and travel costs on average around £400 per mth just in fuel cost alone. We also have to spend a lot of time there working on the land also animals giving birth demands our time and if we have any animal go down poorly. We lost two goats around Dec and Jan due to the crap damp weather we were there from first light until late at night with them and couldnt believe they both died through the night which sickened us as it would any animal breeder.

thanks in advance

[Devon Cream]

I cannot see that you have anything to lose except some money (only if your lose though) if you put in for pp. you seem to have a lot going for you and with a lot of effort you should be able to make a very good case. The fact that you have lost animals through not being able to be there 24/7 should be stressed. You could always ask a consultant there are some good ones available.

 

In your shoes I would go for it and not wait any longer.

 

Good luck

[xemonsus]

Thanks for that devon cream i have already had pp approved for stables i have further applied for pp for a poly tunnel and new roadway into the piece of land where im hoping to build no decision has been made as yet because the highways say they cannot support the new gateway i want to put in as i am using a shared access at the moment which is not owned by me andis no good to me as it dificult for vehicular access however i had a visit from the council and was told my tunnel is ok and can stay up and not to worry she also said build your road as i had her stood in rather a lot of mud so i want to do the roadway try and fight for the gateway and let them get used to it being there then go for it with both barrels however this functional means teast really does baffle me i thought i read it no longer applied then i hear local council planners are using it but nobody seems to know what figure they are looking for in terms of earnings i would also like to know if i would have to have a certain amount of animals to qualify i just want to be as bomb proof as i can before i go for it

[Cornish Gems]

As we understand it a lot of councils are still approving applications for 3 year temp!

[Wigleyssmallholdings]

I am the owner of a plot of land which is 2 1/4 acres in size. I would like to live perminently on the field in a caravan and I have no desire for planning consent for a perminent building nor do I require any financial numeration as I have as I have an equestrian business in situ.  My perminent home is  more than 10 kilomiters away I will be using  the care of duty to animals law and understand that I might have to be seen to run it as a business and not a hobby.  I therefore require to know the volume of animals i.e. chickens before planning will accept. 

I would therefore be grateful for any information regarding this matter.

[tim'rous beastie]

That's quite a small amount of land to run a horse business on, how will you accommodate other animals as well?