New planning regulations for farm buildings

By Hugh Scanlan

New planning regulations have been introduced by the Department of the Environment which will have a significant impact on a whole range of development activities associated with farming.

These regulations, entitled "Exempted Development Rural" form part of the Planning and Development Regulations, 2001 (SI 600 of 2001) and came into legal effect on January 21, 2002.

The Department of Agriculture will require that all applications under it's Farm Waste Management, Dairy Hygiene and Alternative Enterprises Schemes, received on or after April 2 next, shall comply with these new regulations.

It is important to note that, if you require planning permission, these regulations apply, irrespective of whether or not you are seeking grant aid.

So, applying for a grant has no impact on whether or not you require planning permission.

Details of changes

As was the case with the previous set, these regulations specify what developments are exempted so, by definition, all other developments require planning permission.

The class definitions have been totally changed and broadened to include a wider range of development activities. The relevant classes, from a farming perspective, are as follows

* Class 6, which covers roofed structures for the housing of cattle, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, deer or rabbits, together with their ancillary effluent stores, is now the key class.

Any such structure, which has a gross floor area exceeding 200 square metres (2,153 square feet), whether or not by extension of an existing structure, now requires planning permission.

The gross floor area of this structure, together with any other such structures situated within the same farmyard complex, or within 100 metres of that complex, shall not exceed 300 square metres (3,229 square feet) gross floor area in aggregate.

These figures represent a 33 per cent reduction in the size of livestock housing that is exempt from the requirement for planning permission, compared to the previous regulations, which specified 300 square metres and 450 square metres in aggregate.

It should be noted that all passages within an animal house, as well as any external feed passages directly under a roof canopy, are included in the calculations.

The lowering of the exemption threshold means that in future the majority of new livestock houses will require planning permission.

A key change here is that all types of horses, from working horses to thoroughbreds, are now defined as agricultural animals and houses for them are classified as Class 6.

Stables, American barns, etc, will be aggregated with all other Class 6 structures when exemptions are being determined.

The previous Class 10, governing the housing of sport horses, etc, has been withdrawn. While the regulations relating to horses have become more all embracing, the actual exemption thresholds have increased, provided you are building a stand-alone structure.

However, because of the fact that they are now included with other farm livestock, if you are building within 100 metres of another livestock house, the threshold has effectively come down.

* Class 7 covers the roofed housing of pigs, poultry and mink, plus their associated effluent stores.

Where the gross floor area of such a proposed structure exceeds 75 square metres (807 square feet), or where such a structure in aggregate with other such structures, within 100 metres, exceed 100 square metres (1,076 square feet), planning permission is required.

This lowering of the exemption thresholds for intensive livestock represents a massive 75 per cent reduction from the previous regulations. Effectively this, means that every new house for the commercial farming of these animals will require planning permission.

* Class 8 includes the provision of roofless cubicles, open loose yards, self-feed silo or silage areas, feeding aprons, assembly yards, milking parlours, structures for the making or storage of silage, or any other structures of a similar character.

A proposed such structure having a gross floor area exceeding 200 square metres (2,153 square feet), or 300 square metres (3,229 square feet) in aggregate, now requires planning permission.

While this new Class 8 broadly covers the same categories of development as the previous Class 7, effluent storage tanks, etc, are now no longer listed separately.

This means that all farm waste stores, slurry stores, soiled water stores, etc, are automatically considered ancillary to the structures that they serve and are not aggregated, for calculation purposes, in either Class 6 or Class 8.

Effectively this means that planning permission is not required for such structures. This is a very significant change, particularly in the context of the amount of waste storage that will have to be provided if farmers are to comply with the provisions of the new nitrates regulations.

The capacity of all effluent stores is now determined by the new requirement that they are constructed in line with the Department of Agriculture and Department of the Environment requirements.

Where a local authority has issued by-laws that define storage periods and capacities, these must be followed.

Where this is not the case, the current guidelines to be followed are those given in the booklet "Protect water from pollution by Nitrates".

It should be noted that these guidelines are under review and new comprehensive national guidelines will be introduced in the near future.

* Class 9 in the new regulations covers the same categories as the previous Class 8 which is broadly, non waste producing agricultural buildings.

These include haysheds, grainstores, machinery sheds or glasshouses. The exemption size limits (300 square metres) and the aggregation limits (900 square metres) remain unchanged.

* Class 10 covers unroofed areas for the exercising or training of horses or ponies. It specifies that all-weather lunging areas, exercise areas and gallops for horses are exempt from planning approval, irrespective of size, provided four conditions are met.

These are that such a structure must not be within 10 metres of any public road, have a maximum height of two metres, may only be used for the designated purpose and not be used for the staging of public events.

* Classes 12 and 13 cover roofed and unroofed structures for greyhounds but the exemption limits remain unchanged.

General conditions

The summary of the new planning regulations outlined above are subject to a number of general conditions which include

There are no exemptions for any farm buildings in any area which is designated as a special amenity area.

There is no exemption for fencing or anything else that obstructs a public right of way.

Nor is there any exemption for fencing or enclosure of any land habitually open to, or used by, the public during the 10 years preceding such fencing, for recreational purposes or as a means of access to any seashore, mountain, lakeshore, riverbank or other place of natural beauty or recreational utility.

Metal roof and side cladding for all farm buildings must now be pre-painted and planning approval may specify a particular colour. Plain galvanised sheeting can no longer be used.

No farm building, or effluent store serving such a building, may be within 10 metres of any public road.

No farm building within 100 metres of a public road may exceed eight metres in height.

No farm building may be situated within 100 metres of any house (other than the owners), school, hospital, church, etc, within the written consent of the occupier.