Neighbour and planning

[farmertedsbullocks]

First of all let me say I really like my neighbour and wish them well.

However we are a farm they are a small holding.

The neighbour has planning in for taking down some out buildings and replacing them with houses staying in the same foot print as this is easier to get planning for apparently.

The only problem is the back of the out buildings is on the boundary and is no more than 25 feet from the back of a cow shed on the farm side.

I want to protect us from the likely hassle that will come from the owners of the houses should they be built.

I don't think it would be difficult to imagine what living that close to a cow shed would be like, the smell, noise, disruption, vermin. The problem is I don't think others would.

Covid has got people heading to the countryside, I think most like the idea of it, but not the reality.

I only have till the end of the month to get back to the council.

I know that the neighbour is in serious financial trouble, think sleepless nights hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of debt. I really want a solution for them but not at any cost.

What do I say to the council?, I really don't want see the neighbour suffer for not getting this permission as things are so desperate for them, but I don't want to be left with a life full of nightmare neighbours, constant visits from the council, having to spend a fortune, that I don't have, to try and shut up/appease the neighbours or having to give up the farm.

Thanks

I would send in an objection on the grounds you've stated. It's not your problem if he is in debt and even if he follows the footprint of the outbuildings, they're not homes and the area surrounding them needs to be considered.

Good luck, I wouldn't like it either

You can only object on planning grounds. I'd be searching to see if it needs a change of use to build houses on it

They may be on same footprint but what about height, aspect etc. Traffic, access, not in keeping with area are all grounds to explore. Are there any local limitations on use of agricultural land or Green Belt/AONB. If they are in financial difficulty they may well be looking to get pp and sell the land on to a developer who might try to amend plans further.

Would there be any grounds to object on the basis of disturbance to your cows? Not just for the development aspect, but the ongoing residential aspect.

What about water supply and drainage? Would adding residential properties increase the risk of flooding? Where's your protection in that event?

I'm by no means a professional, but these would be my immediate environmental concerns that would be worth looking into in more depth.

Then as others have mentioned, what about traffic access? Who maintains the road leading to the properties? What about construction traffic access, what will the development impact be on your land?

Thank you for the replies, much food for thought.

The land is in the greenbelt, that's why they are going for the footprint option I imagine.

Both of us have our own septic tanks, not sure why the mains sewers don't come as far as us. The neighbours soak away (clean ish water) comes across our land

They have a house on site but is in a bad state of repair having not had any maintenance done for decades, imagine this will be pulled down and replaced in time.
I think the plan is to go for the easy options now then fill the rest of the land with houses eventually.

Traffic to the new houses will be along the existing drive way but being extended going past a property that we do holiday lets with.

There wont actually be any impact to our land, the construction noise will impact us though.

The neighbours soak away (clean ish water) comes across our land

This could definitely be worth looking further into. How will the soakaway cope with 3 or 4 times the current level of grey water? I suspect it'll be too much for the current infrastructure so that'll either mean development on your land...or your land having saturated ground increasing your flood risk substantially (rain water on top of saturated ground rarely has a positive outcome).

This would honestly be my biggest concern. Development on green belt isn't just bad for wildlife and loss of habitat. It has a massive effect on flooding both locally and further away.

I'd want to be 100% certain that your neighbours development would not result in localised flooding of my property. Building on the existing footprint is all well and good from a wildlife perspective, but really doesn't take into account the environmental impact of additional residential dwellings on destructive infrastructure like water.

Best of luck with this.

Any chance there are bats roosting in the outbuildings, or other protected species whose habitat may be affected by the rebuilding or landscaping.