Advice on self-building a manege

H's mum

H's mum

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www.coligone.co.uk
I'm looking for information and advice about self-building a manege.

I've been told so many different ways - I wondered what you thought.

Eg - I've been told by a builder that we wouldn't need a layer of silca sand above the hardcore base, but PVC granules would be ok on their own?

Also - some people use membranes and some people don't... what would you advise?

And drains - what type of drainage system did you use?
Photos of people's work would be much appreciated
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And finally planning - anyone got any tips?
Thanks
Kate x
 
dentex do a set of plans for about £10 which show several plans and cross sections suitable to copy for planners. You need massive french drains, the money spent on this is well worth it as we've never had a puddle on ours. Membrane is best as the stone layer cannot come up through the topping. It includes tables of quantities/depths required for different sized arenas. You need planning for change of use and they will want to see detail of how surface water is being handled and it's all in the booklet. We did ours a few years ago and it is brill.
 
Thank you - that's really helpful - I'll have a look on Dentex website - £10 is definitely worth it if you can send the plans to the council - save a lot of money in the long run
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Did you build your own manege? Or did you get contractors in to do it for you?
Kate x
 
We did ours mostly ourselves. Got a contractor in to level the site and dig the drains etc which was about 4-5 days, then did a bit and saved a bit for several months but ended up with a super arena for just under 10K which I'm sure would have been 20K professionally but it was hard work.
 
I've just had a look, the self-build guide is now £13.50 (still great value) and the site is new-dentex.co.uk
We used their guide and their membrane and no, I'm not on commission, just speak as I find and they were good.
 
can't remember but you need the better quality one. The cheap one is for gardens. Compared to the total cost the membrane was one of the cheaper things and was a few hundred pounds. We've never had stones coming up and we stapled it together with heavy duty stapler and it's stayed in place ever since.
 
Kate, planning wise the planning officer is your BEST FRIEND. Remember they hold all the cards and have the power to yay or nay this - councillors will *usually* follow their advice unless they have a personal reason not to - but if the planning officer advises approval and councillors deny you have a much better chance of winning an appeal since the ones with the planning expertise are the officers not the elected councillors no matter what they may think to the contrary!

I would be going to the LPA, speaking to the duty planning officer and discussing your plans with them, asking their advice etc. Also look on their website for their planning policy documents and search them for policies relating to change of use for equine - you will need this if you are planning on grazing fields which were formerly agricultural. They will almost certainly have policies relating to equine use in terms of stables and arenas etc - most rural planning authorities do now. It is possible to get stuff through if they have a blanket 'no' policy (which some areas do) - but it is much much harder.

I would also be trying to get a planning officer out to my site asap to look at where I wanted to situate it and get their thoughts. It may be easier to not fence it but to plant a hedge instead - if you say you are going to use local provenance native species then you have a biodiversity angle too and are providing an 'increase in biodiversity' which fulfils your obligations under PPS9 which insist all development makes a net gain in terms of biodiversity. If the council has a hedgerow policy in their local plan or in their biodiversity action plan then you can also demonstrate how you are helping them meet their target with that - means people will be more on-side.

If you are near a watercourse (i.e. within 10m) I would speak to the Environment Agency too about drainage etc - they will likely be involved.

A key question to ask the planning officer is 'what are the material considerations likely to be?' - one of them is protected species, and if you can get them to give you in writing a list of the material considerations they will want info on (after they've seen the site), then you can plan accordingly. Word of warning - if something is a material consideration, they have to have the info before they can determine the application, so find out first and plan the work around this, do not expect to be able to provide it at a later date, you cannot and they will not determine it until they have the info. For this reason, any professionals you use should agree the scope with the LPA before you commission them, and your contract with them should state that you need it to fulfil the council's requirements for material information.

There is heaps to know about planning - it is a minefield - but if you go in being ultra nice to the planning officer, accept it may take a year to gather the info and submit an application and get it determined (could be quicker, but might not be!), and jump through the hoops in the correct order you have a much better chance than someone who gets shirty about the whole thing and thinks it is ridiculous bureaucracy for an arena. That may be true, but it doesn't change the fact that you have to do it
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Email me if you want any more info on the joys of the planning system!
 
A year to gather the info...
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Jeez SC I was wanting to get cracking on it!
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Thank you for all that information - really appreciated - I'll pm you - and then you can look at the council website and see what you think for me
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Kate xx
 
I know! But say, for example, you wanted to put it on the site of an old derelict barn - if there are protected species in it such as bats and barn owls, you can only do the surveys at certain times of year, and can only move them at other times of year - it's really complex and I hate to say it but if there is anything which will hold up a planning application it is ecology because the timing of survey and mitigation is so so specific. Of course there could be sweet FA there and all you'll need is a walkover from someone who could tell you that! (I know of a great freelance ecologist BTW, and she does mates rates
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Crikey it really is indepth isn't it - Never thought of anything like that affecting it!
Fortunately it's just a plain field - on a nice gradient for good drainage!
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Kate x
 
pvc on its own will be very deep and loose. i really wouldn't go there.
i have silica sand + springride rubber shred and really rate it. mine was pretty much a self-build, and it works perfectly.
drainage is key, but this depends hugely on the type of soil, distance to a ditch, flatness of site, etc.
if bigger lorries can access the site, it's cheaper.
definitely have a membrane on the bottom to stop the stones going down into the mud and vice-versa, and also a good woven one between stones and surface.
planning permission, if it's just a site in a field, should take 2-3 months max.
 
Thanks for the information - really helpful!
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I thought the pvc would ride too deep (and when I said this to the builder he said "Well it's only going to be about 8inches deep"
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Oops didn't quite get it!)
Ideally I would LOVE shredded rubber as H really likes it - however I can't have that as my dog's already had to have emergency surgery having eaten some of this surface when we went to a training clinic
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So I really can't risk him eating it and causing another blockage! (silly border collies!
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Kate x
 
I would go and look at some in the area and see how they did it. L's cousin built hers for her then did his own. Hes not far from you and im sure he wouldnt mind you going for a look and asking questions. I dont have his number but I know roughly where he lives. Let me know if your interested.
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