A new farm track and hardstanding on a holding

Farm track planning permission is usually not needed, and that is the first thing to establish rather than assume. The formation or alteration of a private way on an agricultural unit is permitted development under Part 6 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO 2015, provided the unit is large enough, the work is reasonably necessary for agriculture, and the prior notification procedure is followed where it applies.

Get those three conditions right and a track that would otherwise cost eight weeks of determination time can be under construction 28 days after a letter. Get them wrong and you have an unauthorised engineering operation across a field, which is harder to remedy than a building.

Agricultural permitted development for private ways

Part 6 divides agricultural rights by the size of the unit. Class A applies to agricultural units of five hectares or more and includes the formation, alteration or maintenance of a private way. Class B applies to units of between 0.4 and five hectares, with narrower rights. Below 0.4 hectares there are no Part 6 rights at all.

The qualifying conditions that matter most on a track:

• The land must form part of an agricultural unit, and the works must be carried out on that unit
• The development must be reasonably necessary for the purposes of agriculture within the unit
• The works must not be on land used as a garden, or on land within the curtilage of a protected building in the relevant cases
• Rights are removed where a condition on a previous permission has taken them away, and are restricted on article 2(3) land

Part 6 has been amended several times, so work from the current consolidated text of the Order rather than from a summary.

When prior notification is required and what it covers

For significant Class A development, including the formation or alteration of a private way, you apply to the local planning authority for a determination as to whether its prior approval will be required. For a private way the matters at issue are the siting and means of construction, not external appearance, which is the relevant difference from a building.

The procedure in outline:

1. Submit the application for a determination with a description of the proposed development, a plan showing the site, and the fee
2. The authority has 28 days to notify you whether prior approval is required
3. If it says prior approval is not required, or says nothing within 28 days, you may proceed in accordance with the details submitted
4. If prior approval is required, you submit the details and wait for approval before starting
5. Work must begin within the period the Order specifies and be carried out in accordance with the approved details

Two practical points. The 28 days runs from receipt of a valid application, so an incomplete submission restarts the clock. And the notification is not a planning permission, so the authority cannot impose conditions beyond the matters the Order allows it to control.

The reasonable necessity test for agriculture

This is where most refusals and most enforcement cases come from. Reasonably necessary for the purposes of agriculture within that unit is a real test, and the authority is entitled to ask for evidence.

Set out, in plain terms, what the track serves and why the existing arrangement does not work. A field that can only be reached by driving across a neighbouring block in winter. A new slurry store that needs tanker access. A grain store whose approach floods. Machinery that has grown wider than the existing gateway.

What does not pass: a track whose alignment and surfacing suggest access to a proposed dwelling, a track to a building let for non-agricultural storage, or a track serving an equestrian or diversification use. Those are ordinary planning applications. If a track really does serve both agriculture and a diversified enterprise, say so and apply, because a Part 6 notification that is later shown to have served a non-agricultural purpose is a weak position to be in.

Surfacing, drainage and run-off from a new track

A track is an impermeable or semi-permeable strip that collects water along its length and discharges it somewhere. Design that, rather than discovering it.

Where the track crosses a slope, a camber or a crossfall with intermittent cut-offs moves water off the surface before it channels. Where it runs downhill, water bars and a sediment trap at the bottom prevent silt reaching a ditch or watercourse. The Farming Rules for Water place duties on land managers to prevent run-off and soil loss reaching inland freshwaters, and silt from a new track is exactly the sort of thing they cover.

If the route crosses or culverts a ditch, that is a separate consent. Works affecting an ordinary watercourse need land drainage consent from the lead local flood authority or the internal drainage board under section 23 of the Land Drainage Act 1991, and that consent is independent of the planning position. On a main river the Environment Agency's permitting regime applies instead.

A short Drainage Strategy note with a cross-section, the cut-off positions and the outfall arrangement is worth preparing even where nobody has asked for one, because it is the document that answers an objection about mud on the lane.

Landscape impact in a National Landscape

On article 2(3) land, which includes National Parks, the Broads, conservation areas, National Landscapes and World Heritage Sites, Part 6 rights are more restricted and prior approval is far more likely to be required. In National Parks there are additional provisions in the Order.

The landscape issues on a new track are predictable: a pale stone surface reading as a scar across a green slope, cut and fill creating engineered edges, and a straight alignment across a field pattern that has been irregular for centuries.

Design responses that tend to be accepted:

• A locally sourced surfacing material that weathers to the colour of the local stone
• An alignment following a contour or an existing field boundary rather than the shortest line
• Grass centre strips where traffic volumes allow
• Cut and fill kept shallow, with battered edges seeded rather than faced

Where the effect is more than local, a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment may be asked for, though on most farm tracks a cross-section and two photographs from public viewpoints will do the job.

Archaeology and the effect of groundworks

A track involves stripping topsoil along a long linear corridor, which is an efficient way of finding and destroying archaeology at the same time.

Check the Historic Environment Record before fixing the alignment, and check for scheduled monuments, because works affecting a scheduled monument need scheduled monument consent from the Secretary of State regardless of the Part 6 position. That is a criminal offence to omit, not a planning irregularity.

Where the corridor crosses an area of known potential, an Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment and a watching brief agreed with the county archaeologist is the proportionate response. On a greenfield corridor with no recorded potential, a desk check and a note in the notification usually suffices.

Public rights of way crossing the route

A footpath, bridleway or byway crossing the route is unaffected by anything the planning system does. The right of way continues to exist, you cannot obstruct it, and the surface and the width have to remain usable.

Where a track crosses a public footpath, discuss the crossing detail with the highway authority's rights of way team. Where you want to move the path, that is a diversion order under separate legislation with its own timescale, often considerably longer than the planning work.

An illustrative notification

A 320 metre track on a 90 hectare arable holding, from an existing yard to a block of land that currently floods at its only access point. The notification comprises a covering letter describing the agricultural need, a 1:2500 plan showing the route and the levels, a typical cross-section showing a 3.5 metre running width with passing bay, local limestone surfacing, cut-off drains at three positions and a sediment trap before the ditch, and a note confirming the Historic Environment Record was checked and no monuments are affected. That is four sheets, and it is more than most notifications contain. Illustrative only.

Where a track also serves a reservoir or an irrigation lagoon, the consents multiply, as the note on a farm reservoir or irrigation lagoon explains.

PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.