In article , David P
wrote:

In article ,
says...
Stan The Man wrote:

Part of my garden originally belonged to the neighbouring farmer; the
previous owner of my property bought half a field from him 15 years ago
and has since integrated it into the original garden here - laying
turf, planting shrubs, creating borders, laying a brick patio, putting
up a couple of garden sheds, etc. However, she never applied to the
local authority to change the use of the acquired land from
agricultural to garden use. I'm led to believe that it should be
straighforward for me to make an application now for garden use based
on lawful development over more than 10 years. But I am curious to know
why I need to do it. What can't I do on agricultural land that I can do
on garden land - and vice versa? TIA.

Forgive the x-post, but I know some denizens of uk.business.agriculture
may be able to advise you.

First thing to do is to stack up the evidence. Precise dates of purchase
and laying out. Any neighbours who will give a sworn statement on the
dates/years when it all happened? Original owner/farmer to give
evidence?

Planners *hate* lawful use applications and will do everything they can
to demolish the arguments.

As to what you can do if it its ag.- basically just put it down to grass
and make sure there are no flower beds or other 'domestic' items on or
across it. This has been known to include [in a case in Derbyshire some
years ago] a clothes line across the 'ag. land'.

Thank you (and others) for your helpful replies. I have already
compiled the evidence and submitted an application to the local council
- which I'm told has been approved by the planning officer and is
awaiting a rubber stamp from their legal department.

Apropos of another issue raised in this thread, I have fully
investigated my Permitted Development Rights and provided that any
erection is a) less than 4m tall to the apex; b) no nearer the road
than the front of my house; c) at least 5m away from my house; and d)
would not, in aggregate with my other outbuildings, cover more than 50
percent of my garden, I am permitted to erect as many buildings as I
desire -- regardless of how ugly they are, whether they overlook
neighbours' properties, whether I lay services to them for
accommodation purposes, etc, etc. In essence, as long as the basic
guidelines are adhered to, the local planners have no further interest
in permitted development buildings.

Four metres isn't enough for a 2-storey building of course. But it's
enough for a single storey garden studio, granny annexe, double, triple
or quadruple garage, etc. In fact, I plan to use my permitted
development rights to erect a large garage on the formerly agricultural
part of my garden.

There's some irony here since anyone who exploits their permitted
development rights to the full and without taste or consideration for
others could well end up with a grotesque blot on the landscape, even
here in leafy Berkshire.

Simon