New farm drive

Matt77

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Anyone put a new farm drive in, will be just for farm traffic, to keep it away from the properties on the farm. Would need to be a completely new entrance off the main road about 100 meters up or branch off the existing one and cut through a wood, what sort planning issues is all that likely to run into, I’m expecting a lot but thought I’d see if someone had just done it recently and what they experienced?
 

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
It'll need to be in a place with perfect visibility to join the road, and expect to have a huge wide splayed entrance to allow at least two lorries to pass off the road.
Beyond that it ought not be an issue except the woodland bit if you have to cut trees down to do it.
 

Matt77

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
East Sussex
The visibility would be a problem I'm expecting, which is why I was wondering about the woodland but I'd expect at least one or trees to be in the way, the rest is just brambles
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
Is the road classified? If its an A, B or C road then the entrance itself needs planning permission and Highways will be a key consultee so you'd have to agree it with them in principle before applying. If unclassified then it's only the creation of the track itself that needs planning but that might fall under PD rights (so just a prior notification) if the total area isn't to big.

@George from SJM Planning will know more.
 

Matt77

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Trees are better of dying a year or two prior to asking for planning if you get my drift . How nature can help us out is amazing .

Is the road classified? If its an A, B or C road then the entrance itself needs planning permission and Highways will be a key consultee so you'd have to agree it with them in principle before applying. If unclassified then it's only the creation of the track itself that needs planning but that might fall under PD rights (so just a prior notification) if the total area isn't to big.

@George from SJM Planning will know more.
It's a B road
 

dannewhouse

Member
Location
huddersfield
If you could branch onto existing it will save you a lot of hassle, be easier to widen existing entrance than create new (jus keep widening untill 2 side by side?)
We are in same situation onto a field track, I ran a track till it was muddy (so clearly in use) then just dug the soil off and hardcored it. All you need then is planning for the hardstanding / internal roadway which should be very easy.
 
Is the road classified? If its an A, B or C road then the entrance itself needs planning permission and Highways will be a key consultee so you'd have to agree it with them in principle before applying. If unclassified then it's only the creation of the track itself that needs planning but that might fall under PD rights (so just a prior notification) if the total area isn't to big.

@George from SJM Planning will know more.
Thanks @holwellcourtfarm

As you have probably guessed from the other comments a new entrance out onto a classified road is going to be hassle. I am assuming the road is National Speed Limit so you would need to demonstrate a visibility splay of 250m in each direction from 2m back from the highways edge. Will the entrance be out onto a third of a mile of straight road?

If not, consider plan B of diverting off from the existing track.

Diverting from the existing track will avoid highways authority input providing the diversion starts more than 25m from the highways edge. You must seek prior approval from the Local Authority and works must not start until you have been notified Prior Approval is not required OR Prior Approval is granted OR the expiration of 56 days from the point a valid application was submitted.
There is no maximum size of track but it must be reasonably necessary for agriculture on the holding.
 

Matt77

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Thanks @holwellcourtfarm

As you have probably guessed from the other comments a new entrance out onto a classified road is going to be hassle. I am assuming the road is National Speed Limit so you would need to demonstrate a visibility splay of 250m in each direction from 2m back from the highways edge. Will the entrance be out onto a third of a mile of straight road?

If not, consider plan B of diverting off from the existing track.

Diverting from the existing track will avoid highways authority input providing the diversion starts more than 25m from the highways edge. You must seek prior approval from the Local Authority and works must not start until you have been notified Prior Approval is not required OR Prior Approval is granted OR the expiration of 56 days from the point a valid application was submitted.
There is no maximum size of track but it must be reasonably necessary for agriculture on the holding.
Thanks, great info, much appreciated, I thought the road would be a problem but thought I'd ask, interesting on the 25m from the road, that could complicate it a little more.
 

Matt77

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
East Sussex
There is an old gate in an over grown hedge back from when this place was a dairy farm, it's about 2 metres off the road, hasn't been used in probably 20+ year's, so over grown I can't actually remember where it is, only found it with hedge cutter 10 year's ago. It's not ideal to make a track after it either, I think our only option will be to split the drive after the cattle grid and branch off away from the residential properties.
 
There is an old gate in an over grown hedge back from when this place was a dairy farm, it's about 2 metres off the road, hasn't been used in probably 20+ year's, so over grown I can't actually remember where it is, only found it with hedge cutter 10 year's ago. It's not ideal to make a track after it either, I think our only option will be to split the drive after the cattle grid and branch off away from the residential properties.
Which council Matt? I see you are East Sussex and we work across mot of them and some are in complete disarray with planning!
 
i think a lot of planning bodies are in dissaray,monmouthshire are up the creek with no canoe ,let alone a paddle
It is nationwide. There is no funding to retain planning officers so they rely on the Local Authorities slush fund for contractors. The contractors have no loyalty and jump ship at a moments notice leaving applications part done. Plus the culmination of people spending more time at home and saving money and realising their houses are too small has resulted in an influx of planning applications.
When you think that a householder planning application fee is £206. That £206 goes into a central goverment pot and a portion filters down into the local authority in question. So lets say 50% makes it to the planning department budget. That £103 then has to cover the wages of an admin member who spends 1 hour validating and inputting the application onto the system, 8 hours (minimum) for a case officer to do a site visit, review the application and prepare the report. Then a case officer needs 2 hours to review and sign off the application. If the staff were paid by the application they would be on less than minimum wage.
I may be contorvertial but planning fees need to be raised significantly to cover the shortfall.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
It is nationwide. There is no funding to retain planning officers so they rely on the Local Authorities slush fund for contractors. The contractors have no loyalty and jump ship at a moments notice leaving applications part done. Plus the culmination of people spending more time at home and saving money and realising their houses are too small has resulted in an influx of planning applications.
When you think that a householder planning application fee is £206. That £206 goes into a central goverment pot and a portion filters down into the local authority in question. So lets say 50% makes it to the planning department budget. That £103 then has to cover the wages of an admin member who spends 1 hour validating and inputting the application onto the system, 8 hours (minimum) for a case officer to do a site visit, review the application and prepare the report. Then a case officer needs 2 hours to review and sign off the application. If the staff were paid by the application they would be on less than minimum wage.
I may be contorvertial but planning fees need to be raised significantly to cover the shortfall.

There is quite a difference between a household application fee and an industrial building application fee.

A 10,000sq.ft steel frame building applied for under full planning would cost about 20x that amount, and probably require a similar level of time to consider.
 
There is quite a difference between a household application fee and an industrial building application fee.

A 10,000sq.ft steel frame building applied for under full planning would cost about 20x that amount, and probably require a similar level of time to consider.
Agreed and fees are based on that assumption but the ratio of industrial to residential/CoE/agricultural applications just doesn't stack up
 

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