"Peter Crosland" wrote in message
...

I'd just want it as a garden though! :-)

So am I correct in thinking that the legal reason is that turning a
formerly farmed field into a garden counts as a 'change of use', even
if
it
wouldn't involve any actual building, the same way as converting an
urban
garage into an office does?

Exactly! The change of use from agricultural use to domestic requires
planning permission. The are numerous pieces of legislation affecting
planning and it is not practical to quote them but it is the same basic
stuff as if you want to build a house. If you want to do it go and talk
to
your local planners who will give you an idea of the likelihood of the
request being granted. Unless you are wanting to take a large amount of
prime agricultural land then DEFRA will not be involved.


Also speak to your neighbours - as any objections they make could be
significant, and if you know them (which ideally you should) speak to your
parish councillors.

The way thing are at present the "rules" are everything, but in a few years
from now I expect local people will have much more say. But for this to
work folks need to have some idea of what rules it is reasonable to inflict
on their neighbours and it will vary from place to place.

A recent change in the law which might be significant in some cases is the
law regarding permanent pasture. As of this year even farmers need to get
permission to plough land that hasn't been ploughed for many years.

As for what most folks on farms do - well it's normal these days to have a
garden of some sort close to any house and a vegetable plot either by the
house of in the corner of a field. No farmer would ever apply for planning
permission to do either of these. Traditionally an acre or two of orchard
close to the house is normal too. To my mind doing anything more than this
in an area where most land is still used for farming is inappropriate and
looks wrong anyway. Though I wouldn't deny anyone the opportunity to make
their own mistakes - what's the harm?

Michael Saunby