Land use

A field that has been farmed for decades may still turn out to be unavailable for what the farm needs next. A new stable, a larger shed, a farm shop, solar panels on a roof or a turbine at the edge of a parcel — each depends on what the land is designated for, what the authorities will allow, and what the neighbours and the landscape around it will bear. Building first and asking afterwards is costly: an order to stop, or to take down what was put up, can arrive long after the work is finished.

Land use is where a farm meets public planning. It covers what the farmer may do with the land, but also what others — an authority, a developer, a public project — may do to it or around it:

• the rules on how spatial plans designate a parcel, and on having your say when a plan is revised;
• the rules on permits for stables, sheds, greenhouses and farm dwellings, and on the conditions a permit may carry;
• the rules on diversifying — farm shops, holiday lets, processing on site, and energy generated on farmland;
• the rules on the limits a nature or landscape designation places on how a parcel may be farmed;
• the rules on rights of way, access across neighbouring land, and the drainage of one field through another;
• the rules on expropriation and land consolidation, and on the compensation owed when land is taken or reallotted;
• the rules on enforcement — orders to stop, restore or demolish — and on regularising what was built without a permit;
• the rules on objecting to a project next door, and on appealing a refused permit or a planning decision.

Our lawyers can support you with this.