Planning Permission Granted for a Rural Agricultural Workers Dwellings

We recently secured temporary planning permission for a rural agricultural worker’s dwelling in Essex for a cattle farmer.The proposed scheme sought planning permission to place a temporary mobile unit alongside the existing farmyard buildings, to be used as a rural agricultural workers’ dwelling to enable our client to live on site, to supervise the existing farming enterprise.

The local plan had a specific policy that covered rural agricultural workers dwellings. This policy required planning applications to be supported by evidence that covered:

• The farming enterprise and its future intentions

• The essential functional need

• Whether the enterprise had been planned on a sound financial basis

• Evidence that no other suitable dwellings available. This policy was written in advance of the National Planning Policy Framework, and so we successfully argued, using case law, that not all of the policy requirements are up to date and in accordance with national planning policy.

To demonstrate policy compliance, we set out a thorough account of the farming enterprise to demonstrate that the agricultural enterprise has an essential need for a worker to be on-site. This case included:

• To provide animal welfare e.g. feeding and diet, monitoring behavioural patterns, protection from disease and illness;

• To provide site security to protect the animals and equipment from rural crime;

• Standard workers hours i.e. the operations at the farm are a full-time commitment and extend well beyond normal working hours.

Through research, we also demonstrated that no other dwellings were available within a reasonable distance of the farm.

We are very pleased that Colchester Borough Council approved this planning application.It is often very difficult to secure planning permission for a rural agricultural worker’s dwelling, as sites are often in isolated locations and such applications are thoroughly assessed by the Council’s planners.

If you have a development project within a rural location, please contact us at mail@adpltd.co.uk for planning advice.

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