Agricultural tracks and when prior notification applies

A new farm track on an agricultural unit of five hectares or more is usually permitted development under Part 6 of the General Permitted Development Order, but the right comes with a condition: before any work starts you have to apply to the local planning authority for a determination as to whether its prior approval of siting and means of construction is required. Skip that step and the track is unlawful even though the right existed. Farm track prior notification is therefore a 28 day process to build into the programme, not a formality.

Part 6 is also narrower than many landowners assume. It covers works reasonably necessary for the purposes of agriculture within the unit, and a track laid to serve a holiday let, an equestrian business or a solar site is outside it entirely.

What the agricultural classes cover

Part 6 of Schedule 2 splits by holding size. Class A applies to agricultural units of five hectares or more and permits the erection, extension or alteration of a building, together with excavations and engineering operations reasonably necessary for agriculture. Class B applies to units between 0.4 and five hectares, with tighter limits and no right to erect new buildings. Class C deals with mineral working ancillary to agriculture.

A private way, which is the Order's term for a track, sits within the works Class A permits. The qualifying tests are cumulative:

• The land has to form part of an agricultural unit of the relevant size.
• The work has to be reasonably necessary for the purposes of agriculture within that unit.
• The development must not be on article 1(5) land or otherwise excluded, and the limits in the class must be met.
• The track must not be within 25 metres of the metalled part of a trunk or classified road, and a new junction onto the public highway raises the access questions set out in the note on dropped kerbs and Part 2 Class B.

The phrase "reasonably necessary for the purposes of agriculture" does real work. A track that gives machinery access to a field that currently has none is straightforward. A track that formalises an existing route used by farm vehicles and visitors to a farm shop is not, and the authority will ask what proportion of the use is agricultural.

The notification requirement and the 28 days

Class A.2 imposes the notification condition. The application is for a determination as to whether prior approval of siting and means of construction is required, and it is accompanied by a written description of the proposed development, a plan showing the site, and the fee.

The authority then has 28 days from receipt. Three outcomes follow. It may tell you prior approval is not required, in which case you can build. It may tell you prior approval is required and then approve or refuse the siting and means of construction. Or it may do nothing, in which case after 28 days you may proceed in accordance with the details submitted.

Two practical points. The 28 days runs from receipt of a valid application, so an incomplete description gives the authority grounds to say the period never started. And the development must then begin within five years of the date of the notification and be completed in accordance with the submitted details.

What the authority can consider is limited to siting and means of construction. It cannot refuse because it would prefer no track, and it cannot use the process to examine the agricultural justification in the abstraction, although it can and will test whether the right applies at all.

Excavation, engineering operations and the limits

A track on level ground with a shallow build-up is uncontroversial. A track that requires cut and fill across a slope, a culvert over a ditch, or the import of thousands of tonnes of material is a different proposition.

Three issues arise. First, substantial earthworks may take the operation beyond what is reasonably necessary, particularly where a less engineered route exists. Second, importing material raises waste regulation questions that sit outside planning: material brought onto a site for a track may need an environmental permit or an exemption, and the position should be checked with the Environment Agency before deliveries start. Third, a culvert or any works affecting an ordinary watercourse needs land drainage consent from the lead local flood authority, which is a separate consent from planning.

Surfacing choice matters more than it looks. Crushed concrete and planings are common and quick to lay, but planings can leach and some authorities and water companies object where the track crosses a source protection zone. A clean stone surface with a geotextile separation layer is easier to justify. Drainage should be designed so run-off is dispersed to vegetated ground rather than concentrated into a ditch, which is the same thinking behind the condition attached to hard surfaces under Class F at a dwelling. That detail belongs in the means of construction description rather than being left to the contractor.

Tracks serving something other than agriculture

This is where most enforcement cases start. A track built under Part 6 and then used for a wedding venue, a campsite, a livery yard or a battery storage compound is a material change of use of the track, and the original notification does not protect it.

Equestrian use is the most frequent example. Grazing horses can be agriculture; keeping, riding, training or liveries is not. So a track serving a stable block and an arena needs full planning permission, and an application that describes it as agricultural will be refused or, worse, approved and then challenged.

Mixed cases need care. Where a track serves both an agricultural field and a diversified enterprise as a matter of fact, the honest route is a planning application describing both uses. A Planning Statement setting out the farm business, the vehicle movements by type, and why the route is the least harmful option carries that application. A track laid to serve a barn conversion is the clearest case of all, because the dwelling created under the route described in the note on Class Q barn conversions is residential rather than agricultural from the moment it is occupied.

Public rights of way on the route

A public footpath, bridleway or byway crossing the line of a track is a separate legal interest and planning permission or a Part 6 notification does not authorise interference with it.

Where the track crosses a right of way, the surface has to be kept usable and the route cannot be obstructed. Where the track would run along a right of way, consult the county council's rights of way team early. Diversion or extinguishment needs an order under the Highways Act 1980, and an order takes months and can be opposed.

Gates are a recurring problem. A locked gate across a bridleway is an obstruction, and a cattle grid without a parallel gate excludes horse riders. Design these in from the start, and show them on the plan you submit with the notification.

Designated land and landscape effect

On article 1(5) land, which includes National Parks, National Landscapes, conservation areas and World Heritage Sites, Part 6 rights are restricted and the notification process is applied more tightly.

A track reads in the landscape as a pale line following a contour, and it is visible for years before vegetation softens it. The things that reduce the effect are specific: follow field boundaries rather than cutting across open slopes, avoid skylines, keep the width to the minimum the machinery needs with passing bays rather than a uniformly wide carriageway, choose local stone where it is available, and avoid a kerbed or edged profile.

Where the route crosses a site of special scientific interest or affects a protected species, consent from Natural England or a licence may be needed regardless of the Part 6 position, and a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal is the usual starting point. On sites with hedgerows, removal of a length of hedge to form an opening is controlled by the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 and needs notification to the authority in its own right. Where trees are involved, a BS 5837:2012 Tree Survey showing root protection areas against the track line prevents an avoidable breach.

Submit a short, factual description with the notification: the route on a plan at a sensible scale, the width, the build-up and surfacing, the drainage, the crossings, and the agricultural purpose in two or three sentences. Authorities determine the straightforward ones quickly, and a vague description is the most common reason one is not.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. A Lawful Development Certificate is the only formal way to confirm that works are lawful.

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