Building own yard queries

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hairycob

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Seriously considering buying a peice of land & looking at all the things I need to consider & get costed. It helps that a friend who may come in with me is a builder, but he is not very horsey so can't always help decide.
Has anybody used solar power to charge a bettery for lighting & kettle (my farrier tells me this is essential kit!)? Any tips on what to look for in a system? Good & bad points?
I want to build a good sized yard area so that I can bring them in if it gets very wet but they will still have room to stretch their legs. I'm considering having a wide strip of concrete by the stables & wash area with the rest being rubber like a manege. Does that sound like a good idea?

Any tips that you wish you'd known about before you set up your yard?
 
Building a yard myself at the moment I can tell you the costs esculate hugely and it's always a lot more than you think.

First of all is there any existing buildings on the land? If not you need to find out how easy it will be to get PP (might need change of use too). Don't forget you can apply for PP even if thje land isn't yours! Go through a good firm who deal with PP if you can like ACORUS, definitely worth the money.

Concrete is about £90 for a metre squared! Our 110 ft x 70 ft building will be about £10k just for the concrete.

With solar panelling I think it's pretty expensive to start with and it might not be great through the winter (but I'm not sure TBH).

The main thing is PP though and the access. Highways are the ones that will stop you if this land is on a road?!
 
Have had a very high level chat about planning & have been told there shouldn't be any objection in principal, but of course it depends on the detail so we have got someone who knows a bit about these things having a more detailed chat next week. Am looking at solar as getting mains electric laid on would be pretty expensive anyway & I hate noisy generators. There seem to be loads of internet kits but I don't know anyone who has actually used them.
 
have a friend who has gone through two years of hell for her piece of land. i don't think i could go through all the stress and expense. Parish councils can be difficult too even if you tell its for private use they seem to think that you are trying to set up a livery yard or riding school. Good luck though.
 
It took 2 years for us to get PP for a block of 3, 12 x 14 wooden stables and a 20 x 60 sand school, on just under 5 acres of land that I have kept horses on for 15 years previously, There was no objection locally, but it still took 2 years and the council have put a 5 year clause on were they will check on the stables every 5 years!

The concrete is stupidly expensive because you need so much of it, even for our little stable bock.

We are going for a solar powered lights but are going to have a generator for Kettle & Clippers!

http://www.12voltz.fsnet.co.uk/stable.htm
 
you get better coverage for power if you have a combined wind turbine and solar panel system. The wind turbine will charge at night with wind and the solar panels provide more charge in the summer. Kiss of death to renewable energy is foggy days

you could also use your wind/solar plan as a 'selling' point for your planning application along with any other 'recycled' products like road-scalpings for the drive, recycled rubber for here and recycled timber for there......sort of thing. Whilst recycling is not a consideration for planning appns 'green-ness' now is a consideration.
 
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