Rother District Council

The Town and County Planning General Development Order 1988 (as amended) requires anyone proposing to build, significantly extend/alter a farm or forestry building; or to build or alter a farm or forestry road; or to carry out excavation or engineering operations which individually or collectively exceed 0.5 hectares on one site or the placing or assembly of a tank in any waters; to notify the Local Planning Authority of their intention to carry out such development. This notification applies to the exercise of permitted development rights only; this form is not suitable if a specific planning application is needed for the development (separate planning application forms are available from the Local Planning Authority.)

This procedure applies to farm holdings of 5 hectares or more only.

More limited permitted development rights apply to agricultural holdings between 0.4 and 5 hectares - please check with the planning department.

A separate parcel of agricultural land of less than 1 hectare which forms part of a unit of 5 hectares or more but is separated from it (for example by a public road or by land in a different ownership) does not benefit from permitted development rights and will be subject to full development control.

Significant extensions/alterations are those which add more than 10% to the cubic content of the building, or which exceed its original height. The permitted development rights for extensions/alterations to buildings apply on one occasion only.

What constitutes an 'alteration' to a farm or forestry road will be a matter of fact and degree depending upon the circumstances of the case. If you intend to carry out work to an existing road, you should contact the Local Planning Authority in advance to discuss the proposal.

Your notification needs to be accompanied by the appropriate fee £70.00.

What You Need to Do

Please provide details of the development. The notification must be accompanied by a map based on the Ordnance Survey showing the location of the proposed building, road or engineering/excavation works.

The completed form (along with your fee) should be returned to:

Planning Division
Town Hall
Bexhill-on-Sea
TN39 3JX

What Happens Next

The authority has 28 days from receipt of the notification to respond. You should receive an acknowledgement informing you of the date of receipt. If they indicate that they are content (or do nor respond within 28 day period) then the development can proceed exactly as notified.

If informal discussion take place with the authority and the original proposal is modified by agreement, there is no requirement to re-notify the authority. the authority should give written approval to the modification to make it clear that the modified proposals can proceed.

If the authority indicate, within the 28 day period, that they require the formal submission of details for approval, work cannot begin until details have been approved by the authority.

If approval is refused, or is granted subject to conditions with which you disagree, you have the right to appeal - within six months - to the Secretary of state for the Environment.

Following Notification

Where the development involves the erection of and addition to a building, the developer must notify the Local Planning Authority in writing within 7 days of the date when the building has been substantially completed.

Where within 10 years of this completion date a building permanently ceases to be used for agricultural purposes within the unit, the Local Planning Authority may require that the building be removed and the land restored to its former condition before development took place in accordance with the Town & Country (General Permitted Development) Order.

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