[rigs683]

Hi all,
         I am new to this site and looking for information on the position of using agricultural
land which I own adjacent to my property for the growing of vegatables for my own use.
         Various web pages seem to think that I can just go ahead and plant put up a shed and or greenhouse.
        This seems to be the opposite to my local authority who  take the view that this is garden expansion into the countryside  and as such would not allow such development.
         Any advice ?
                            Cheers

[Aunt Sally]

You can do it as long as it is for growing food.

I'll find some references for you.

[Aunt Sally]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/plants/vegetables/allotments/7520849/How-to-set-up-an-allotment-site.html

4 You don't need planning permission to turn agricultural land into allotment land as it falls under the same planning designation (it is a different matter if you want to incorporate agricultural land into a domestic garden with lawns, trees and so on).





http://www.nsalg.org.uk/uploads/article547/Allotments%20-%20The%20Basics.pdf

Provided that land intended for allotments was previously agricultural land, planning permission is not required for allotments. The authority for this statement derives from Section 55 subsection (2) paragraph (e) and section 336 Town and Country Planning Act 1990.



So as long as the land is used solely for food growing it is still considered as agricultural land.

[brian Fisher]

Many thanks for your guidance re use of agricultural land. We live in rural Shropshire and alongside our house and garden is a field owned by a friend and farmer. The strip bordering us has been thick with nettles and brambles for many years and is never cut or treated when cutting the grass for hay. I asked him if I could use a narrow strip to grow vegetables. No problem with him and so we posted it and wired the area to keep it from the occassional horse or cow. I went to the planning office who said that unless anybody complained to go ahead and we had not had the conversation...nod, nod you know what I mean. The first year was great and we had a great crops of everything. Half way through the second year I received a letter from the planning development officer saying that they had received a complaint on the grounds that it was a change of land use... I rang them up and was quite upset with them regarding their stance... They said it could be seen as part of our garden and so in the future could be used for building... I informed them that in no way was the land ours to do that. I only wanted to grow vegetables rather than nettles, and how could the growing of vegetables on agricultural land be a change of land use.  After a letter of apology to them regarding my abruptness (having just returned from a very moving funeral which I had conducted) they finally agreed to allow me to see the year out and harvest the crops... It's now a new year and since then a surveyor friend provided me with a legal statement relating to a similar case in which it was stated that as long as the land was not incorporated into you garden, even though it might be adjacent to it, that planning permission is not required... So I am hoping this might change their tune, although I am a little nervous about presenting to them as we are planning to build a small retirement home in our garden and don't want to rock the boat too much... It does seem to be a difficult topic to obtain agreement about, depending on perspective of the planning officer and their legal team who hadn't even heard of the cases which have been passed in favour of such situations... Has anybody else had similar problems which have resulting in a happy end for the vegetable plot... ?
Brian

[Salmo]

Probably the distinction between allotment and garden is important.

Land that is privatley let by a landowner as allotment plots or let to the Council to sub let as allotments remains designated as Agricultural Land.

Land that is let to one person by a landowner to grow vegetables remains designated as Agricultural land. If it is adjacent to a garden, especially if it is fenced and there is a connecting gate, it could be considered as an extension of the garden and require planning permission for change of use. Quite rightly too.

Using a small part of a field that is owned by the householder to grow vegetables is surely in the same position.

I can fully understand the caution of Council planners. There are a few dodgy examples in my area of building where it should not be, often with retrospective planning applications.

[katiekate]

It's very difficult when you don't know how personal they want to get.. technically I think you can argue it. If your friend/farmer who owns the field if agreeable he might be willing to say that they are his veg on his land which you merely weed and help out on?

On the plus side guerilla gardening is very fashionably and you are now inherently cool! 

Good luck with this and your retirement home plans!!!

[katiekate]

There are a few dodgy examples in my area of building where it should not be, often with retrospective planning applications.

Tesco?