Can any one help

[cedmonds]

We want to make an all weather turnout only with wood chippings as a surface and electric fencing phoned the council and they said we need planning permission as we are changing the land next door build a conservatory with no permission as it was under a certain size. Has any one got any ideas how to get around it. We have a pony with lami that can start to go out on the soft with no grass and we have no where to put her.

Why are you changing the land use? What is the registered use of the land at the moment?

It might be worth while talking to a planning consultant. A well placed letter challenging the council's pronouncements and asking them for evidence has sorted a lot of nonesense for us in the past.

they said that we are changing the use of land as it is going from grass to chippings The use of the land is equestrian at the moment. Might send a letter in . We have got a very small area of rotten down chippings at the moment the other side of the field. So think we will just make that bigger.

As far as I understand it 'change of use' is a technical term that refers to what the land is clasified as, e.g. agricultural, leisure, equestrian, etc. and therefore what is permitted on it.

If your land has equestrian use you can fence off any part of it you want and you can also put down, directly on the soil, anything you want like woodchip (unless you are in a conservation area), so I don't see how they can object to the turn out area. You would, however, need planning permission for an arena as that would involve a more permanent change of the area by removing soil, putting down hardcore, etc.

It sounds like they are talking rubbish, talk to a planning consultant, they should be able to sort this out for you in no time.

Thanks