Our arable land is set well away from the house through the wood. The way we intend to cultivate that land requires a base camp from which our growers community can operate, a place to store tools, our little tractor and its implements and an area to store root vegetable crops securely. We also could use a large polytunnel to allow us to grow tender crops in Summer and provide salad leaves in winter. However, first had to tackle the planning system and make sure they and our neighbours had no issues with our intentions. After that the real work can begin.
The “farm in my pocket” website gave great advice on this vexed issue and with long winter nights available I figured we may as well do it ourselves by submitting a planning application online. There is one standard online form to complete whether you are putting up a shed as we were or planning a large office complex so it took a while to wade through it and work out what bits needed filling in and what was not applicable. My first attempt was too complex and the planners sent it back for amendment. A quick call revealed that all they needed was to “keep it simple stupid” and attach a separate friendly word file to help the planners understand your thinking and approach. That keeps the public facing document itself straightforward
We were required to submit ‘site’ drawings for both the pole barn and polytunnel which we prepared by hand and scanned in. These were simple drawings done to scale giving a view from the side, front and from above with dimensions marked. This is the pole barn drawing…
We were also required to submit an ordinance survey location plan drawn to a fixed scale with the position of the structures marked. Thankfully, the website provided links to four online suppliers of such plans which they could deliver instantly by pdf at a cost of £40. You can edit the document online to add your boundaries in red and to mark in red the location of the buildings. Once you are happy you download it and pay online.
Once everything was loaded to the planning site, the site itself calculated the fee required which, in this case, was £70 and once that was paid the submission was complete.
The Wales Planning Portal then transferred all the documents electronically to Flintshire County Council who quickly acknowledged receipt. It wasn’t long before plans were published and our neighbours advised on the process. Fortunately, everyone was very supportive of our venture and the plan sailed through without problem. Rather oddly no-one formally wrote to us from the council and we simply had to keep checking the online portal until the approval showed up in the list of our previous passed applications…
