Woodland sheds - planning permission

There are two useful pieces on the always thorny issue of woodlands and planning permission at the woods4sale web site. The first is Woodlands and planning legislation by Lucy Nichol, Lecturer in Planning Policy at Oxford University, a basic guide to the law on forestry buildings and woodland development. She writes in her introduction: "Planning controls over forestry are fairly simple on the face of it. Planning permission is not required for forestry work (except where there is a Tree Preservation Order) and may not be needed for buildings or uses of land necessary for forestry. However, planning permission is always required for non-forestry uses of land, buildings or any other form of development."

The second is Woodlands and the planning system by Rhys Roberts, Cynefin Consultants, Bangor, Gwynedd, an informal guide to the planning system in the UK and how it effects the forestry industry. "It cannot be stressed enough," he writes, "that if you are intending to undertake a development within a woodland that you think may require planning permission, contact your local council's planning department as early as possible to confirm what the appropriate policies and procedures are for the development that you have in mind. It's a lot cheaper to have an early "no" than to be forced to pull down an unauthorised building!"

Working in woodland sheds - part 4

[see previous posts for details of Smallwoods Association]

'Assuming it's not in a National Park, AONB, SSSI, etc, Martin Glynn from North Yorkshire also agrees that generally speaking sheds in woodlands come under Permitted Development but only if incidental to the management of the wood. Martin recommends reading Planning for Small Rural Businesses which can be accessed from the Royal Town Planning Institute. A further resource is Chapter 7 run by Simon Fairlie. Their DIY planning handbook for smallholders, low impact developers, etc, costs £15 from The Land Is Ours whose Chapter 7 department also offer free advice and publish a quarterly newsletter.'

Working in woodland sheds - part 3

[taken from Smallwoods Association magazinefor more details, see previous posts].

"Last autumn, Cedric Hoptroff decided to move house, which meant moving further away from his wood. He therefore decided to build a shed in the wood so that he could keep essential tools on site. He emailed the local planning authority to say that he owns Brookfield Wood in Great Brickhill Parish and would like to have some secure storage for tools for use in the wood. He wrote that he wanted to build a small brick or block shed with a door, but no windows, and a tiled roof. It would be about 2.5 by 2m and about 2m hight to the ridge. He expected it to stand on a 200mm-thick concrete base or alternatively have 500mm deep foundations.

"He wanted to know whether he needed to a) apply for planning permission, and/or b) seek building regulations approval. 'After an inordinately long time I received the following reply - 'I can confirm that planning permission would not be required to build a shed of the specified dimensions, provided that the height is under 3m. You will appreciate that this is only an informed view of officers and that it does not constitute a formal determination under the Town and Country Planning Act. In addition, it relates only to the Planning Act and not Building Regulations'.'

"He therefore emailed the Building Regs people, saying that he would like to have some secure storage for tools for use in the wood, outlining the details he'd sent AVDC. He mentioned that the AVDC Planning Department had informed him that he did not need to apply for planning permission for the shed. It appears, he wrote, that it is also exempt from building regulations control as a building in Class VI (1) of Schedule 2 of the Building Regulations 2000 (at least). He wanted to know if they could confirm this.

"'Within 36 hours I had a reply saying simply that the proposed work was exempt from building control without specifying on which provision(s) of the Building Regulations the opinion was based. In the event, the shed was built to rather different design but it is on the same footprint and less than 3m hight so I should be alright.

'My wood is in an Area of Attractive Landscape which is a local designation in the Aylesbury Vale Local Plan; it is not a nationally recognised designation. It is not in Green Belt, though in my opinion, that should not make any difference. A shed such as I have built should be allowed under the exemption for buildings for forestry purposes.'>

Working in woodland sheds - part 2

[from Smallwoods magazine - see earlier post for details]

"Julian Evans has written about planning in his book Badgers, Beeches and Blisters, summarising his experiences as he's found some variation among planning authorities. 'What you can do in your wood by way of accommodation is camp there or site a caravan for up to 28 days,' he writes. Permitted development also includes a secure tool shed, provided it is sited well away from a highway, but even here one needs to be a little careful. A shed must be a shed - a small hut with no windows and a lot of cobwebs - not something that can double up as a summerhouse or a modest chalet!"

Working in woodland sheds

Not all shedworkers are bashing away at a computer keyboard in their back gardens. Smallwoods, the quarterly magazine from the marvellous Smallwoods Association, has an interesting feature in the new autumn issue on planning permission for sheds in woodland. Sadly, it’s not online so I’ve extracted the most relevant sections. To prevent this being an unreadably long post – and to add a frisson of excitement – I’ll post in several parts every day this week.

“Denny Herzenstein has restored a pond in his woodland. ‘You do need planning permission to create a new pond but not to restore one that already exists. You are not allowed to erect any building in your woodland (even a small tool shed) without first notifying the local council’

“Denny’s woodland is semi-natural ancient woodland within a designated AONB. He restored a pond that had been neglected for very many years and erected a 6x8ft tool shed (which he thought was well hidden) without first notifying the local council. It wasn’t long before the council discovered the developments and told him he would have to apply for retrospective planning permission for both…

“‘Under the Town & Country Planning Permitted Development Order 1995 it is possible to erect a building that is ‘reasonably necessary’ for forestry, e.g. a tool store without planning permission, as long as certain conditions are met. However you must still apply in writing to the council prior to the development giving full details of your proposal, and the council may impose a requirement to approve the specific siting, design, materials, external appearance, etc, before allowing the development to begin.

“‘It did seem somewhat absurd completing a detailed planning application for a small garden shed hidden deep in a wood, far from any public view and bolted simply onto sleepers lying on the ground. The application has to show the design from every elevation; it’s precise location in the wood (including a scale drawing that goes all the way to the public road – several hundred metres away in my case); and a scale drawing of the whole wood that is supposed to show every tree! Obviously not possible , but I did as best I could!’

“The council have granted Denny Herzenstein a temporary five-year permission. They will not grant more for a building that is considered a temporary structure, and the permission is only valid while Denny owns the land.”

To be continued tomorrow…