Random advice needed wonder if you can help :)

[coff33pot]

Some of us here are mulling over the idea of renting a field for the purpose of building an ongoing project on for SN children and siblings.

Camping would be involved and the building of a mud structure over a period of say 3 to 5 years before knock down and start again. Its for educational, social and recreational purposes. Basically all round fresh air and fun :)

Could any of you good people advise us as to costs of renting? would such a thing be allowed? any areas or farmers maybe you would know of that would be happy to consider us?

To be honest I'd be surprised if a farmer would rent to you for such a purpose,in my experience there are problems with using agricultural land for anything other than agriculture/horses.If you could buy a bit of land then the only possible pitfall might be planning permission for change of use,which I think you'd need even for mud structures/camping.

Sorry to put a downer on things,it does sound a lovely idea,but coming from a farming community and a farming family,I know how hard it is to use a field for anything but livestock/crops.But good luck with your idea and keep us posted on your progress.

Thank you for replying :)

We appreciate the advice. I was thinking along the lines that I know some farmers rent out fields for concerts and motorcross but I guess that is for one off events and not all year round.

The advice on having to change planning permission for use of land even for non permanent structures is useful.

Oh well I guess its back to the drawing board :)

It may be worth contacting the planning officer at your local council,just to find out what the regs are.I know that for motorcross you can only use it so many times a year.Plus,farmers hate red tape and the thought of things getting complicated-if you know your stuff and approach a farmer about renting,you can explain that you know what restrictions may apply and what the planning rules are,that is half your battle.They'll panic about insurance too,the local school have a family camp out once a year on one of our fields,and as a one off,there is no planning permission needed,but they did need public liability insurance as the farm insurance wouldn't cover them.

I hope you can find some way around it.Would amenity woodland be better than a field? With that the expectations of what the user will do with it are different-many people build tree houses or little temporary camps and it seems easier to do than agricultural land.

Planning is going to be tough. Motorcross, etc. is allowed for a limited number of days a year on agricultural land and what you describe would be an on-going activity so you would need to get change of use to leisure land. This is generally rather difficult to do. You would also need to get the planning officer's opinion on the status of the structure you intend to build, it may also require planning.

Other practical considerations may include parking, toilet facilities, water and electricity if you need them.

You may be better off approaching local councils to see if they have any council land not currently in use they could make available to you, but look into the insurance implications as well as they may prove prohibitively expensive.

Sorry to be so negative, hope you find a solution!

agricultural land often has so many days a year sort of 'amenity' use so it might be possible, don't know if this is regional though, but with any piece of land you need to check for restrictive covenants

This is really informative thanks! :)

None of this is negative at all. This is all pie in the sky at present and puting together the pros and cons of anything is important. Would rather not even start than have disapointed faces. The more information and forethought the better. The woodland idea is a good one too as is contacting the council re wasteland.

Yes I had insurances on the back of my mind too as obviously with children it is even more vital.

Thank you very much for your input :)