What would you do with 3 acres of land??

[Hotdamn]

Hi - this has just been offered to us to purchase right next to our house. It is affordable, it can't be developed for housing. Currently has a few trees and sheep. We live on the edge of a town and we have never had more than a small back garden before, we are proper townies. I'm excited at the prospect but... any advice on how to use the land / what to do with it?! We have 4 secondary sch aged children. Thanks!

Horses.
No question!

@Sunnydaysstillhere

Horses. No question!

What sunny said!!

You cannot incorporate it into your garden, so your options are limited. I had my horses on mine, but others have hens, sheep, goats, quad bikes, geese, etc

Any change of use to a garden/ allotment etc may need planning permission.

If you want to keep sheep, pigs or goats on it you will need to get a CPH number and in many local authorities register with trading standards.

If it isn't being grazed it will quickly become overgrown so you will need to mow it regularly, for 3 acres you will as a minimum need a ride on lawn mower.

You would need change of use for horses as well, assuming that it is currently agricultural land. Sheep and a few trees sounds great to me.

I’d rent it out by the hour to dog owners who want a safe place to let their dogs off the lead, or for training/agility work

You could get alpacas. Or rent it to horse owners.

I'd put in more trees to at least an acre - ones that are local to the area (deciduous not spruce I mean) and a lot of fruit trees. Put a few bird boxes in around the trees.

Plenty of veg growing space. Done properly to make it easy to use and rotate.

Beehives. And let the edges and spare areas become wild flower meadows.

And fence off part of it for pigs and some chickens/ducks etc.

I'd probably also try to get some green energy solutions going somewhere - solar panels or wind turbines - to run some things in the house, charge batteries, heat water, have light or heat as needed for animals etc.

Admittedly those plans require a lot of work to establish and then to maintain, but I would really love a smallholding.

Two ponies. Sheep are a pain as you need a licence for them.

Orchard, beehive, chickens

Grow masses of veg/flowers

Orchard with chickens and bees.

Horses. More horses. A swimming pool.

is there access from a road? if so, then the horses or dog exercise etc might be feasible.

But I would do a mini rewilding scheme - plant trees, install bird boxes and let nature take over.

A wildlife area pond, bat and bird boxes, frog houses, lots of trees and wildlife friendly plants, bird feeders etc.
I'd also have a few rescue animals and chickens from battery farms.
An allotment.

That's a fairly large area to maintain/keep if you are not used to it. If you have time, you'll have a lot of fun! Wish I had such an option!

Look into planning to see what’s actually allowed. If you do want to buy it for whatever reason, you could always rent it out to be used the same as it has been for years.

I'd create a little woodland using British trees & hedges & include a medium size pond & a wildflower area too. I don't know much about bees but if I could have hives that didn't need anything doing to them, I'd do that. Not for the honey, just for the sake of boosting local bees numbers. I'd take advice from local wildlife charities too to see what I could include to help animals.

Trees, swimming pool, nature trail

The woodland trust scheme 'More Woods' offers finding to plant trees and woodland. You can also get ongoing funding to maintain it.

We've recently bought a property with a field and we are going to plant on at least half. Might get alpacas for the rest at some point

Don't be daunted by it, or by getting 'change of use' if you want it, it shouldn't be too difficult.

trust [[https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/large-scale-planting/]]

@Costacoffeeplease

I’d rent it out by the hour to dog owners who want a safe place to let their dogs off the lead, or for training/agility work

Yep, that's exactly what I'd do too.

www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/large-scale-planting/

Just to be clear that FREE TREES and free advice in the right native trees for the area

Yuck - can't think of anything worse than having a stream of dog owners in and out, not picking up poo and churning the ground up.

I would start breeding snails for the EU market big bucks to be made
I also would build a massive greenhouse with solar panels to grow my own veg hydroponics all the way and also I would grow a cut flower garden so my house would be filled with fresh flowers. All sounds good but probably expensive to set up but a sweet dream to have

Trees and a safe space for the dog I walk. With other walkers by invitation. ( the dog is reactive to some breeds after being attacked and it would be great to have a safe place for them to run and play without any anxiety)

Personally I would love to open a forest school nursery but that would be very specific to my career and I'm not sure how it would work with insurance etc. If it were just for personal use (rather than a business) I would plant fruits, veggies, an orchard and and maybe keep some chickens.