Featured in Farmers Guardian on the 5th June, Rob Rawlinson, director of Acland Bracewell, gives his thoughts on the planning system.

Planning, by definition, is not an afterthought; it is something which needs careful and strategic consideration from the very beginning of the process. No longer can an applicant simply submit a hand drawn plan of their proposed grain store or silage clamp, edged in red, on a photocopied Ordnance Survey Plan from 1928. 

The planning process that now encompasses agricultural development and diversification in the UK, is:

1. Complex: General Permitted Development Rights, enjoyed by both farmers and landowners, are often misunderstood by Local Planning Authorities. Farms are also more likely to be located in the Green Belt, a National Park, or within an area subject to a highly restrictive planning policy, requiring applicants to undertake more surveys than would be expected if you were located on an industrial estate;

2. Expensive: Not only does consideration have to be given to the cost of the pre and planning application fees, the planning consultant, but also the comprehensive number of surveys, including flood risk and drainage, ecology, highways, and landscape impact assessments. There may also be objections from neighbouring properties, on the verge of loosing their unspoilt view of your wheat crop, to contend with. Critically it is;

3. Uncertain: The UK Government’s former Planning Guidance once advised that undue delays [in the handling of Prior Notification applications] can have serious consequences for agricultural and forestry businesses, which are more dependent than most on seasonal and market considerations. 

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, notwithstanding the Government’s attempt to respond by issuing guidance in May 2020 on temporary measures to make it easier to operate the planning system, recent experience has indicated that Planning Authorities are experiencing considerable difficulties in keeping the planning system from breaking point; planning officers are working remotely, statutory consultees may not visit your farm, or cannot be contacted, and we are at a stage where planning committees are being held via video conferencing software.

What is clear, is the system is creaking, and this does not appear to be a short-term problem. In the current absence of a long-term solution to Covid-19, it may be that we all must accept remote meetings with LPA’s becoming normality for the foreseeable future. Critically, one must accept that these adjustments will naturally increase the complexity, expense, and uncertainty of your application for your agricultural building or your diversified project that secures future income.

A plan should therefore be implemented from the start, which seeks to mitigate these adjustments. Measures could include early engagement with LPA’s through the pre-application process, putting in place a contingency for alternative storage, or using your Permitted Development Rights efficiently. With the changing nature of the post-Brexit landscape, it is absolutely imperative that the UK agricultural industry has the support from the planning system, so that it may continue to adapt.