Planning permission for field shelters - council don't want to talk to me!

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diddy

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Hi everyone,

As posted previously (sorry!) I’m making the move from DIY to a rented field sometime over next few weeks and am slowly getting myself organised!

Key issue I have now is how to organise some shelter. I would like somewhere for the boys to hide from rain/flies if they want to and somewhere to shut them in if needs be. I also need a bit of space to store food & other not-very-nickable items. However, I’m on a bit of a budget (aren’t we all?!)

Either way, it’s going to cost me some money, so would rather do it right from the start! Plan is to go with a double shelter, with the option to put a gate on. Then I can use one side for the pones and the other for storage but in emergency could empty it out & shut them both in.

I’ve done everything humanly possible to contact my local planning officer but they haven’t returned any of my calls. So thought I’d do the next best thing and ask you guys instead!! What I want to know is…

- Does the shelter have to be mobile (i.e. proper shopbought!) or could I get away with something that obviously looks temporary (i.e. cr*ppy!) - namely a few hammered-together fence panels with tarps etc...?

- If I have to get a mobile shelter, I’ll have to wait a bit to save up some money. In the meantime, could I put a shed with feed etc. or would the council take an interest..?

- Regardless of which I go for, can you take steps to reduce mud around the shelter i.e. lay mats, or something cunning with hardcore etc. or would that incur ire of neighbours/planners?

Obviously, I would like to have this confirmed by my council but they don’t seem to want to return my multiple calls – am now more cheesed off than ever at my council tax bill :)

Thanks all – I have a cream bun on my desk if anyone fancies it…

D.x
 
Shelter can be homemade but must be sturdy enough to be moved.
Also needs to be not so big that it would be very hard to move (double shelter might be dodgy unless very sturdy)
Skids or wheels would be needed to show mobility
Temporary floors that dont interfere with ground surface eg earth or matting is ok, hardcore is NOT ok with many planning depts as it constitutes groundworks which isnt allowed
The shelter needs to be (at least until planning lose interest) just used as a shelter, not as feed storage or other uses (tho it can be designed with that in mind)
In the extreme councils can insist that the shelter is not only move-able but is actually moved, sometimes as often as every 28 days and never going back in the same place (thats extreme tho).

If counciil start to give you issues you could always find someone with some sheep and offer them temp free grazing - if there are more sheep than horses and the shelter is 'for the sheep' then it's agric and planning is less of an issue....

For best chance of shelter staying put in gales, pin it down with angle irons driven in at 45 degrees and nylon ropes. Also if you are DIYing, have a slatted strip just below the rear roof bottom, this will not make it less of a shelter but will improve ventilation in summer and will also let the dangerous gale gusts through rather than lifting up the shelter.
 
Hi L&M,

Thanks so much for that. All very helpful :) Key thing was what constitutes mobility so I'd been thinking if it looks like I wouldn't mind taking it down that would be OK but v helpful that you need to "show" mobility with wheels or skids.

Tbh even with a proper one, assume it'd be pretty hard to shift if it were a double i.e. 24x12 - hadn't really thought that through. It's just the 12x12 look so weenie and would mean I'd still have to get a shed or something for all my clobber...

Would be so much easier if it just came with something/anything and then I'd just make the best of it! It's having to spend my hard earned cash that's making me slightly obsessive about the whole topic :)

Thank you muchly - think I'll just sign off on the lease then sort the shelter out once I'm installed - surely the weather can't get much worse over the next few weeks...can it? :eek:

D. x
 
Keep an eye for a 2nd hand one one eBay. They do come up.
Regards the rules, if your not in an area of 'outstanding natural beauty' or conservation area, you're less likely to have any issues.
We put up three 12x12 stables with a concrete base without planning, but it fell into the house curterlage even though over the road from the house. They are now marked as a building on ordanance survey maps even though about 10 yrs old.
A lot depends on your council... Ours are quite slack, in West Yorkshire, but the other side of the River from us is north Yorkshire, and they're really strict.
Go and look at their planning website and see if anyone had applied in the area, and maybe approach anyone who has temporary shelter in their fields to see whether there were any restrictions.
If you are renting the land, and it's part of a house you should be ok, but I'm no expert
 
Different local authorities have different outlooks on mobile field shelters so it is best to sort it out with them first rather than face an enforecement notice at a later date.
I would instruct a local surveyor to act on your behalf to find out exactly what the local authority will allow and get it in writing.
Also ensure that your horses are Freezemarked on a part of their body where it can be seen when ridden and all tack is tack marked.
 
I would suggest something on skids or wheels that can be towed if needed. I would also suggest the structure does not look too "home made" or you will get busy bodies complaining that it's an eye sore. You really need to try and speak to a planner at the council to get the best advice as each authority has its own take on what it will allow in certain areas. In my authority we have a drop in centre that allows people to come in and have a chat and get planning advice. For them simply not to call is unacceptable, giving planning advice is part of the job - if we don't call people back we are almost shot for it in my council!
 
Hi again,

Thanks for all your responses. Tbh I wasn't sure if I should call as I don't want to draw attention to myself before I even move onto the land so really helpful that you think I'm right to persist in trying to contact them. They've now "escalated" my enquiry so we'll see what happens come Monday :)

Meantime think I'm going to start getting prices for a mobile - think you're right people are more likely to complain if it looks like a dilapidated shed!

D. x

Greygirl - wish you were working at my council :)
 
I put up a home made field shelter a good few years ago - 9 big, deeply sunken met posts, plank cladding and a coroline corrugated roof sloping front to back with a gap all round underneath the roof to stop it blowing away - also put some guttering on the back edge and a water butt at one corner.

In front, I sank foot-wide planks into the ground, 8 inches below and 4 inches above to make an area at least the same size as the footprint of the shelter, then filled it to the brim with really coarse wood chippings, and covered the shelter floor with the same. Apart from topping it up occasionally, it did the job very well.

All I had at the time was a rented ridge and furrow field, no water and no electricity (and no car!), so having some shelter for the horses or just for 'stuff' was essential. I then electric-fenced off an area of pallets to stack my hay on and invested in a good quality tarpaulin to keep it dry and sweet. After that, I put up a garden shed from B&Q (raised on timbers) to keep my feed bins in etc and tucked it out of sight behind the shelter, next to my haystack.

Have to say, I didn't inform the planning department as to be honest, at the time it didn't occur to me to do so! (the fields are now covered by 30 houses and I always wonder if the house in the corner plot, where my muck-heap used to be, has a productive garden :D)

Good luck with your project and the council, Diddy!
 
Firstly grazing horses is classed as an agricultural activity so you have certain rights to provide shelter etc for your animals. Mobile field shelters are classed as equipment and not buildings so dont require planning. We have two mobile shelters, 24'x12' you do not need planning for mobile shelters, however if you live in AONB or conservation area then i'd check out thoroughly on net as to your rights.
Beware of the advice your planning department gives you as they will almost certainly tell you to get permission as thats how they make their money, You don't need it as long as your field is used for grazing and not riding! Check out Bennet vs Purbeck district council. Your shelter needs to follow this criteria-

“No preparation of the ground was required prior to the erection of the mobile field shelter.”

“There is no physical attachment to the ground”

“There are no services connected.”

“It is not permanently sited”

“It is designed to be moved”

My advice would be to stay on the good side of your neighbours and you shouldnt have any bother.
 
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