Dwelling in a woodland.

[richy_B]

Hello,

read through the 'who owns a woodland' thread and one or two posts got me thinking. Has anyone here got any experience of get planning and building a permanent dwelling in a woodland? I did a bit of research before and its obviously not a straight forward thing to get PP for but it seems if you can justify a need to be on site you can get it. I looked at a productive woodland for sale recently that was 40 hectares (30 corsican pine and the rest mixed broadleaf). I thought something of that size will potentially year round felling you stand a good chance of getting consent.

 

Anyone got any views?

[ukminch]

I do believe that eventually if you spend enough money and come up with enough different ideas/schemes you can get planning permission for a lot of stuff if it's a small development. The problem is that it's simply not worth that expense and stress to do.

 

R

[common lime]

I am sure that you are aware of Ben Law;

 

Ben Law Woodsman

 

I believe he runs a course on how to get consent and has published a book about this too!

 

I am also aware of some one in East Sussex who got planning permission for a dwelling in a woodland BIG BUT consent is dependent on his ownership and working in the woodland it not be transferable to a new occupant!

 

One my happiest days at work was walking around a woodlot site gathering evidence for Article 4 Notices on newly built structures in the woods.

[RichardT]

We got PP to build house & shed/barn in our mainly sw plantation (c100Ha) on the strength of a fairly thorough business plan for a specialist livestock enterprise. The LA had been stung previously on comparable applications which were flogged as 'equestrian properties' or the like immediately on completion, so there were numerous Section 75 clauses attached on required investment in the business, restrictions on partial land sales, etc. Attitudes will vary massively by Authority, I imagine. In the Highlands the 'Forest Crofting' model is being actively pursued, with limited success as I understand it. I've visited this impressive example, there are others in the area:

 

Dunbeag | Woodland Regeneration & Sustainability Project

[renewablejohn]

Anything is possible just be prepared for a battle. It has taken use 7 years to get planning permission just for an agricultural building on our farm which if you read the planning briefs should have been given under the permitted development rules. We only got the permission on appeal and even though it was granted last October we are still not allowed to build as the council will not agree which building materials should be used.

[porky]

I think Ben Law set a new precedent for building in a woodland, but wasn't it only for his lifetime? It was on Grand Designs.

[Catweazle]

There are quite a few houses granted in woodlands, even in SSSIs like Ben Laws. The ones I have read about have been where woodland operations need 24hr supervision, charcoal burning seems to be a common reason. English Nature, for example, are very flexible and realistic when it comes to getting neglected coppice back into use; their input could swing a planning application, they really are keen to get woods working.