Agricultural permitted development rights

[The real pringle]

Hello, I’m new to this forum.

I'm having some issues with my local council refusing to register my prior notification applications. They just say I do not benefit from class 18 and return my fee. This, I’ve been advised is improper, as they should advise with or not I need prior approval and then I have a right of appeal to the dpea ( I’m in Scotland) 

l have evidenced, purchase, rearing, slaughtering, butchering and trading / selling into the food chain. 
 Thanks 

[IanR]

Hi and welcome,

 

I'm not sure there'll be many members with experience of Scottish agricultural PD that can give advice. I'm not one either, but if it were in England I'd suggest that that the LPA are not convinced that your business is "Agricultural". Checking the definition in Scottish planning law:

 

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Definition of Agriculture (As defined in the 1997 act) “horticulture, fruit growing, feed growing dairy farming, the breeding and keeping of livestock (including any creature kept for the production of food , wool, skin or fur, for the purposes of its use in the farming of land.”

 

From what you have said you have evidenced, "Agriculture" stops at the rearing. To benefit from Agricultural PD the Use of the land and buildings prior to the PD must be Agricultural as must the use of the land and buildings after the PD has taken place. You may have muddied the waters with the slaughterhouse and food processing content which are not "Agricultural".

The land and/or buildings you wish to develop under under Agricultural PD must also be part of an Agricultural Unit. The Scottish Planning definition is:
 

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“Agricultural unit” means agricultural land which is occupied as a unit for the purposes of agriculture other than fish farming, but includes – a) Any dwelling or other building on that land occupied for the purpose of farming the land by the person who occupies the unit; or b) Any dwelling on that land occupied by a farmworker;

 

In short, there needs to be an Agricultural business in place.

 

Does your animal "rearing" amount to a business in its own right? and is the rearing taking part on the land and/or buildings you want to benefit from agricultural PD? and will the use of the completed development be in association with the rearing? It's likely that your local council have determined the answer to be "no" to one or more of those questions based on the evidence you provided them.

Edited October 14 by IanR