Can I put a marquee up permenantly?

[RoastieToastieReastie]

We own some land in a conservation area which is also green belt. It's not our garden and has no houses directly around it. It's about three acres approx.

We looked into having a garden building built in it (an insulated shed room with a wood burner etc) but was told absolutely not as even though it would be made of wood it would be there permenantly.

We then thought about getting a tent there permenantly, as it's obviously more temporary. We initially looked at bell tents but decided we wanted something we could stand in easier, so we found a 16 foot canvas marquee.

I've just looked online and it seems for more than 28 days you need planning permission to have this in your garden. This isn't a garden but given the controls on conservation/green belt I'm assuming it will be tricky. When I rung the council previously I was told even having a small shed woukd need checking with them first .

Does anyone know how likely it is we would be able to do this? I know I can ring then tomorrow but dh is in a bad mood that he's spent hours finding this marquee and then in two minutes I google and find out planning permission might scupper us once again. There must be some kind of shelter we can put up .

The only thing I can think that would be passable now is a caravan or shepherds hut or something on wheels so i assume it isn't classed as a permenantly structure.

[SingingTunelessly]

You can't put a caravan in a greenbelt field permanently without permission. Why don't you decide what sort of shelter is needed then apply for the necessary consent? Getting any art of permission other than for livestock/farming needs on greenbelt land is tricky and for good reason.

[bakeoffcake]

Why don't you just talk to them and find out what is likely to be allowed you will probably need permission for anything other than a three sided animal shelter.

I think a marquee would look dreadful after a few years. I doubt you'd get permission for it.

[bakeoffcake]

And I agree with Singing there's not a chance in hell of you being allowed a caravan.
If it was ok the countryside would be full of caravans in fields!

[SkodaLabia]

What are you hoping to do in the shelter? Stay overnight? Or for day visits like an inland beach hut?

There was an episode of that show with the architecty bloke George something (Amazing Spaces?) where a guy owned some land in an area where no building was allowed, and he built a shepherd's hut. It wasn't on wheels though, I'm pretty sure. It was tiny and very cute, it had a stove but no electric or running water. I think he also had to build it at a place on the land so it was obscured, but I might be making that up.

[wowfudge]

The rules are there for a reason so if you are looking for a way round them, why don't you ask what would be permitted? I suspect you will find that nothing will be though.

[RoastieToastieReastie]

Thank you for the comments, it's very useful. To hopefully answer your questions, the land has been in my family for many years and we have recently purchased one field of the land. It's on the corner of a village which was recently made a conservation area (in the past 6 or so years) and is just in the conservation bit but has always been green belt as long as I can remember. On the road it is in are a number of farms with outbuildings used for livestock etc and it's likely that we could get planning permission for this purpose (as I understand) but we're not willing to lie about the use of the structure to get planning permission. We paid a couple of hundred pounds a couple of years ago to be told as a preliminary planning enquiry (you have to pay at our local council to have questions about what is and isn't allowed answered) that we couldn't have pretty much any kind of permenantly structure that we were imagining and it would only be considered for specific uses eg stables for horses. It's only then that we started thinking about tent/marquee options. Interesting about the caravan comments too as I always thought you could have a caravan (on wheels) on your land without any issues so long as you didn't reside in it.

We were initially wanting the outbuilding to keep toys for DD, have a table and chair and sofa, occasional camping (only a handful of times a year), and be a base for us when we visit (as well as a shelter from the rain and warmth from a wood burner). Our ideas got smaller when we realised the planning issues that we couldn't do this.

Tbh I'm fine with nothing on the land but dh is desperate to put something in that means we can visit in winter and have somewhere to sit and shelter and want to spend time there and some kind of heating.

[Seeline]

You will need planning permission for anything on the land that will be there permanently. The 28-day rule is the important one.
The fact that the land is in the Conservation Area is probably more restrictive than the Green Belt issues.
Farmers are allowed to carry out certain forms of development for agricultural purposes without requiring full planning permission, and in the Green Belt agricultural development is seen more favourably than other forms of development.
The purposes of the Green Belt is to keep land permanently open, and most forms of development are seen as inappropriate because of this. However, facilities that allow for outdoor sport and recreation can sometimes be seen as appropriate, but you would have to look very carefully at the actual size of any building, as well as its location, to go down this route. This is why things like stables and field shelters can be acceptable (they don't count as agricultural).
The other important issue is to make sure that the field stays as a field, and not a 'garden' style area, as this would require a change of use.

[RoastieToastieReastie]

Thanks seeline, very interesting. We are planting lots of trees to turn it from a field into a woodland (in many years time). I hope this won't be frowned upon . In the past it was an orchard but these trees were dug out about 20 years ago and replaced by grass which is cut every year for hay but we are planting trees in an acre of it. We also wanted to buy some play equipment for DD to put in it (a swing/slide type contraption with a few bits in the one piece of equipment iykwim) and now I'm worried I may have to check this with the planners first too.

[bakeoffcake]

You would definitely need to check about the play equipment and I doubt very much you would get permission.
You have a field and the planners will want to keep it as natural as possible.

Can you imagine if everyone who owned a field decided to put a caravan or marquee with some play equipment next to it? The countryside wouldn't look like it does today.

I'm sure you'd be fine planting trees.

[thisisbloodyridiculous]

Could you buy a camper van and drive it there when you're visiting ?

[Wildidle]

You can apply for an agricultural building providing you can justify it. Storing toys/bits and bobs or erecting play equipment are all no-gos I'm afraid, your DH will just have to get over it!

[RoastieToastieReastie]

Cripes, we have a swing in it already please don't tell them .

Thisis I wondered about the campervan but we wouldn't get from the road to the land when wet as it would get stuck in the mud so would have to be permenantly there, which it seems wouldn't be a good idea.

[Qwebec]

Don't know how realistic this is in the UK, but how about a really fancy tent?
here is a link with different type of livable tents
livabletent.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html
Some look like they would take weeks to put up, but a few seem fairly simple. No 17 seems interesting among others.

[RoastieToastieReastie]

That's not dissimilar to what we were looking at qwebec. The term marquee maybe makes it sound more weddingy that it was but it was a canvas marquee style tent with a wood burner in it. Only issue is the whole 28 day thing seems to apply I think to tents too.

[Qwebec]

If you fond one relatively easy to put up you could bring it down when you leave and avoid the 28 days issue. You couldnot use it for storage, but at least you would have a nice place to stay when you are there.

[Qwebec]

sorry I see I forgot to mention the point of setting up and down the tent. I'm sure there are heating systems for winter camping. Or maybe you could just leave the stove on site.

[RoastieToastieReastie]

Yes, might be worth looking at qwebec

[lavendersun]

I have just moved from a house in a conservation area. I had these in my fields, on skids, no planning permission required.

www.redmire.co.uk/hunter

[RoastieToastieReastie]

Ohh lavender that looks interesting, will show dh.

[lavendersun]

I did check with the planners where I lived and they were acceptable. If you look at the optional extras page you can have a stable door insert so that you can secure things inside.

They really are built to last - my friend has an ancient one.

[Wildidle]

Yes but as soon as you use them for storing anything outside of agricultural things they're not ok... Or if they ever become non-mobile!

[lavendersun]

Well, mine ended up full of all sorts of rubbish Wildidle. I put rubber mats down inside so that the floor wasn't earth.

They won't ever become non mobile though will they, they are constructed on heavy metal skids designed to be moved around, by definition 'mobile'. Just because you may choose not to tow them around the field every year does not render them non-mobile.

[RoastieToastieReastie]

Lavender do you get a lot of pests inside yours? I'm just thinking out loud that if I get a door on it I might be asking for it to be infiltrated very quickly with rats and mice (dh thinks he may have seen a rat hole there yesterday )

[lavendersun]

No, none at all, and we do have shavings beds in some (but had more shelters than we need horse wise so the ones with the doors got used as storage).

I have never had rats nest where there wasn't food.

The metal skids at the side (rather than front and back) do not make contact with the ground so there is a gap of 3" or so to allow you to tow it about without it hitting the floor. We used a row of bricks, just placed/lined up on the rubber matting on the inside to block the gap but a mouse/rat would easily get in if they wanted to.

I have moved 200 miles and have brick built stables at the house but will definitely buy another one if I feel I need it and the planners allow it here without permission again.

[SingingTunelessly]

It does mention in Lavendar's link that it must be moved a few times a year after the Judgment from an Appeal hearing. Also, what is your drainage like? If it's clay soil and you can't put any hardstanding down it will be a mud bath in no time.