JEREMY Bell, Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and partner heading up Rural Professional Services for Greenslade Taylor Hunt takes a look at an example of agricultural planning case law.
A SUCCESSFUL outcome was achieved after a farmer client appealed a planning condition imposed on a new livestock building.
The building, which only allowed livestock ‘adjacent’ to the farmstead to occupy it, meant cattle on away-keep or on land not contiguous to the main farmstead would not have been able to legally occupy the building.
The Planning Inspectorate had sympathy with the farmer being restricted in this way, accepting that many farms occupy a patchwork quilt of land around them not necessarily ‘adjacent’ and struck out the condition altogether.
The farmer is now unrestricted in how he stocks his building, including taking stock from third parties on a headage basis. This shows how important it is for someone to scrutinise the small print.
If the appeal had not been lodged within the statutory timescale it would have had a significant impact on the future use of the building and the farmer’s return on his investment .
o GREENSLADE Taylor Hunt has nearly 20 qualified rural chartered surveyors able to advise on the plethora of planning legislation and other professional matters.
Jeremy Bell can be contacted at Burnham-on- Sea office on 01278-765588 or visit the website – www.gth.net to search for a surveyor in your area.
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