Business Clinic: Business Clinic: What paperwork is needed for new greenfield dairy unit?

Whether it’s a legal, tax, insurance, management or land issue, Farmers Weekly’s Business Clinic experts can help.

Here, planning expert Nicola Quick, a partner with Carter Jonas, sets out how to approach a planning application for a new dairy unit.

See also: Business Clinic: can we convert farm building to a large house?

Q: We plan to build a new dairy unit including a slurry pit, on a greenfield site.

I know we need to submit a planning application, but we’re unsure about other documents or surveys that might be needed.

Please can you advise what we need to submit and consider as part of this planning application, and how likely you think we are to secure permission?

A: The proposed development may fall under Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)) Regulations 2017 (the ‘2017 Regulations’), which may require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

So, from the outset, you need to contact your Local Planning Authority (LPA) and arrange for them to screen the proposal to determine whether it falls within the regulations.

If they consider it does, then you’ll need to move onto the next stage of a ‘scoping opinion’. 

In the past, it was possible to withdraw and resubmit a planning application with minor amendments within 12 months for no charge.

This option has been removed, so if you withdraw and resubmit you must pay the planning fee again.

Consequently, many LPAs are strongly encouraging applicants make a pre-application enquiry, and some are even refusing to engage with applicants at planning application stage if they did not submit one.

There is hopefully an element of goodwill if you’ve done a pre-application and it will highlight any red flags before you submit your application.

The LPA will also list exactly what documents they need you to submit, which means you will be paying for things that have been specifically requested.

Major or minor project?

When you have clarified whether an EIA is needed or not, you then need to ascertain if the proposed project would either be classified as a ‘minor’ or ‘major’ planning project.

A minor application has an eight-week determination (decision) period, whereas it would be 13 weeks for a major. There will also be more bodies consulted as part of a major application.

If the building is more than 1,000sq m or the area in the application falls over more than a hectare it becomes a major application – and any biodiversity net gain mitigation needs to fall within the planning red line of that area too.

It is worth being strategic and trying to fall into the minor category if possible, as even if the project only falls into the major category by a small margin this could make the process unnecessarily onerous.

The planning application will require plans like: a site location plan, a proposed site plan, floor plan, elevations and so on.

Slurry storage issues

Certain information may be required depending on what kind of slurry pit you’re proposing. I assume you are not planning to cover the slurry pit and will opt to fund that with a grant later.

However, applications I have worked on in the past have received objections to this, for instance from the Ministry of Defence, who were worried about bird strikes due to the proximity of the farm to their base and birds being attracted to the slurry pit.

If you are opting for an earth banked slurry pit, you would need to do some trial pits first to determine where the ground water level is.

From a practical perspective, finding out what’s going on below ground is fundamental.

Land designations and considerations

There may be requirements depending on your location – are you in an area of outstanding natural beauty/national landscape? Is the site at risk from flooding?

Are you in an area where phosphates or nitrates are at unfavourable levels, in which case nutrient mitigation measures may need to be factored in.

If you are near a town, you may need to carry out a landscape visual impact assessment or an odour assessment and management report. It is likely that a preliminary ecological assessment will be required.

Ammonia is becoming a bigger issue and either a Scail (simple calculation of atmospheric impact limits) report or a report on the modelling of the dispersion and deposition of ammonia from the existing and proposed dairy cattle herds is likely to be required.

Finally, engage early with the local community and parish council, particularly if it does end up being classified as a major application.

I always advise a softly, softly approach – for example starting with the basics of the dairy unit and adding to your site over time.

There are many things to consider, I recommend seeking expert advice at an early stage.

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