The law and bee keeping , the use of agricultural land for bees

[jenkinsbrynmair]

7(? can't remember the exact number) number of years the land will be deemed as a garden/developed land. It is then very very hard to stop a house being built on garden land in the countryside.

That's not quite true, it all depends on what the land is designated under the LDP, you can apply to have it re-designated but only when the LDP gets reviewed every ten years or so

 

[Beesnaturally]

This lays down the planning law. Note that planning law is founded on the idea of just a few 'use' classes. You are allowed to _use_ a property (be it house, field etc - the 'property is the square footage on the map) in the ways laid down in the Town and Country Planning act. A change of use is described as a 'development' in law. This idea can be seen in the first emboldened line below. No change of use = no development = no problem in law.

Town and Country Planning Act 1990​

(2)The following operations or uses of land shall not be taken for the purposes of this Act to involve development of the land—

(a)the carrying out for the maintenance, improvement or other alteration of any building of works which—

(i)affect only the interior of the building, or

(ii)do not materially affect the external appearance of the building,

and are not works for making good war damage or works begun after 5th December 1968 for the alteration of a building by providing additional space in it underground;

(b)the carrying out on land within the boundaries of a road by a F2. . . highway authority of any works required for the maintenance or improvement of the road [F3but, in the case of any such works which are not exclusively for the maintenance of the road, not including any works which may have significant adverse effects on the environment];

(c)the carrying out by a local authority or statutory undertakers of any works for the purpose of inspecting, repairing or renewing any sewers, mains, pipes, cables or other apparatus, including the breaking open of any street or other land for that purpose;

(d)the use of any buildings or other land within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse for any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse as such;

(e)the use of any land for the purposes of agriculture or forestry (including afforestation) and the use for any of those purposes of any building occupied together with land so used;

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/section/55

 

[buffon]

That's not quite true, it all depends on what the land is designated under the LDP, you can apply to have it re-designated but only when the LDP gets reviewed every ten years or so

Not sure how it works in Wales, but that is not how it works in England. Development boundary maps were done away with unless the village/parish have gone to the bother of creating a Neighbourhood Development Plan. The development boundary of a village ordinarily is defined by people's gardens. If you live in the sticks then a garden is defined as previously developed land, and it is incredibly easy to build on.

If you annexe part of a field to extend your garden then you should apply for planning permission. Lots of people probably don't bother, but if you want to sell your house then a solicitor will make you apply for retrospective planning permission. If you've used it for X many years, and can prove it, then there is not a lot the council can do about it. That is what I meant by deemed.

If you turn part of the field into say an orchard (or I suppose apiary), then that is a grey area. If the area is fenced off and gated from your existing garden, then you would struggle to call your orchard part of the garden.

 

[Lemony]

Are we talking planning enforcement here? How big is the area you've fenced off? I think the neighbour is concerned that after 7(? can't remember the exact number) number of years the land will be deemed as a garden/developed land. It is then very very hard to stop a house being built on garden land in the countryside.

Enforcement only enforce if they think it is in the public's interest to do so. You could apply for planning permission, I can't see how it could possibly be turned down. Get some free pre application advice first from the council. Get support from the local parish council.

The owner has been issued with an enforcement notice as bees are deemed recreational and therefore he’s turning his paddock into a garden

I have fenced off a 8m by 16m at the furthest point from his house with stock list and rail and netting

Enforcement officer could furnish me with a document stating what is and isn’t allowed

 

[Lemony]

He seems to be making it up as he goes along. His opinion is irrellevant unless backed up by clear legialation. His "all supermarkets in Yorkshire" is both laughable and unprofessional. BBKA will probably have a better grasp than he has.
I'd be tempted to put a couple of hives there and see what his response is. His objection would need to be based on clear reasoning.

I agree he seems to be making it up as he goes along
He seemed to suggest that because the paddock was mowed it was garden

 

[Anduril]

The owner has been issued with an enforcement notice as bees are deemed recreational and therefore he’s turning his paddock into a garden

I have fenced off a 8m by 16m at the furthest point from his house with stock list and rail and netting

Enforcement officer could furnish me with a document stating what is and isn’t allowed

Ask the officer if the council has a pollinator plan and point them in this direction if they haven't, your council could save thousands of pounds.
https://www.localgov.co.uk/Saving-Britains-bees/46157

 

[JamezF]

Knock up a quick business plan for the apiary. Say an eventual twenty-five hives producing 80lbs of honey each for sale at £10/lb plus, oh, I don't know, twenty over-wintered nucs for sale in the Spring. I don't actually know what the price of a nuc is these days, but neither will he. Call it £150. That's a turnover of £23,000. See if he can call that a hobby

James

 

[Lemony]

Ask the officer if the council has a pollinator plan and point them in this direction if they haven't, your council could save thousands of pounds.
https://www.localgov.co.uk/Saving-Britains-bees/46157

Thank you
I will , very interesting

 

[Lemony]

Knock up a quick business plan for the apiary. Say an eventual twenty-five hives producing 80lbs of honey each for sale at £10/lb plus, oh, I don't know, twenty over-wintered nucs for sale in the Spring. I don't actually know what the price of a nuc is these days, but neither will he. Call it £150. That's a turnover of £23,000. See if he can call that a hobby

James

Thanks James

 

[Ian123]

Seriously as suggested previously try the local paper!!!!!. 2 hives do not make the land a garden, if the landowner put 2 sheep in the field they can’t pull him up because he’s not supply Waitrose! On his analogy every hobbyist who has hives on a farm and there are many are contravening planning rules, it just doesn’t add up. The issue may seriously be the fence if you are dividing agricultural land for a hobby. The local rag would love this storey and likely do the donkey work for you.
I’m also certain there’s no requirement for scale on and agricultural usage or even profit. Half the farms in the country would subsequently be regarded as gardens

 

[buffon]

The owner has been issued with an enforcement notice as bees are deemed recreational and therefore he’s turning his paddock into a garden

I have fenced off a 8m by 16m at the furthest point from his house with stock list and rail and netting

Enforcement officer could furnish me with a document stating what is and isn’t allowed

As a serial objector I do have some sympathy with the enforcement officer. That seems quite a big area for two hives. Ask if reducing the area would eliminate the problem. If not I would ask about a Lawful Development Certificate.

From your description though it seems unnecessary. As I've previously written if the area is clearly defined as separate from the main garden, it doesn't have garden plants and is maintained/used separately then it is not a garden. Tucking a couple of hives into the corner of a field is a routine setup up and down the country and nobody would claim those pieces of land is a garden.

Contact your local county councillor if you don't get anywhere.

He is probably worried about the definition of Previously Developed Land as set out in Annexe 2 of the NPPF. This has been much argued over and well tested in the courts. Some planning inspectors are taking a very relaxed interpretation on what land can be developed. Give developers an inch and they will take a mile.

 

[buffon]

I agree he seems to be making it up as he goes along
He seemed to suggest that because the paddock was mowed it was garden

Re-reading this, so the issue is the whole paddock and the bees have been the tipping point.

I'm with the objecting neighbour on this. I hate bloody lawnmowers.

 

[Beesnaturally]

Re-reading this, so the issue is the whole paddock and the bees have been the tipping point.

I'm with the objecting neighbour on this. I hate bloody lawnmowers.

That's interesting. Planners are hot on agricultural land being used as garden, thus extending the curtilage of the property. That is 'development', change of use' in planning terms.
I'm not sure if it comes under the '4 year rule', or the '10 year rule', but you would have to prove it had been used that way for the right length of time in order to obtain a certificate of legal development.
It is possible recreational equestrian use could be used, though that might be specific to that use.
If this is what is happening it all needs rethinking from the ground up. Again, a written response should clarify the nature of the problem, and if it doesn't write to ask for further clarification.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Re-reading this, so the issue is the whole paddock and the bees have been the tipping point.

I'm with the objecting neighbour on this. I hate bloody lawnmowers.

I have three acres. That is mowed. Nobody has ever approached me to say I shouldn't be doing it. The surrounding fields are mowed frequently too.

 

[buffon]

If you mow the area immediately around your house (what we traditionally think of as a garden) and then push/drive your lawnmower around the remaining 3 acres (and you do this every week) then what is the difference? You have extended your garden into the 3 acres. Because of the NPPF (you are not in a built up area) your garden is now a brown field site. Planning policy encourages building on brown field sites.

Even if you are not a regular mower, if the 3 acres is planted or used in such a way that it clearly belongs to your house then it could still be classified as a brownfield site.

Different councils have different views on this. Here in Cornwall the council are building mad, and it is my experience that they are happy for gardens to be extended, particularly if the former use was equestrian.

 

 

[Ian Morton]

Of course it's not the planning dept who make the final decision (unless delegated) it's the planning committee of elected councillors. Have a word with the local councillor(s), who might have more common sense.

Such decisions are in practice often delegated to the officers

 

[Blunt Spike]

Meanwhile, on the other side of the village a developer has bought several green fields and has easily got planning approval for 200 expensive houses that won't provide affordable housing for anyone. This is what's wrong with planning laws in the UK

 

[buffon]

Re-reading this, so the issue is the whole paddock and the bees have been the tipping point.

I'm with the objecting neighbour on this. I hate bloody lawnmowers.

My final take on this: if the field has just been mown periodically and not used for anything else, then that is just maintenance of pasture field and they are not deriving any pleasure from the land. The addition of bees changes that so I can understand the enforcement officer's view. Whether it is in the public's interest to pursue the matter depends on other factors that we don't know. Clearly the other neighbour thinks it is.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Meanwhile, on the other side of the village a developer has bought several green fields and has easily got planning approval for 200 expensive houses that won't provide affordable housing for anyone. This is what's wrong with planning laws in the UK

or the power of the brown envelope

 

[Gilberdyke John]

My final take on this: if the field has just been mown periodically and not used for anything else, then that is just maintenance of pasture field and they are not deriving any pleasure from the land. The addition of bees changes that so I can understand the enforcement officer's view. Whether it is in the public's interest to pursue the matter depends on other factors that we don't know. Clearly the other neighbour thinks it is.

Plant a line of evergreen (not Leylandii) mixed with hawthorn and blackthorn as a living screen so the objector isn't going to see what's going on. I suspect he/she is hoping to enjoy a newly manicured view since the derelict land has been cleared. You might need a couple of years for it to establish and become dense.