Planning permission is not normally allowed in a rural area unless it is essential for agricultural or forestry needs. If your proposal involves making an application for an agricultural or forestry dwelling you will need to provide a thorough justification for the proposal which we'll examine in detail, using specialist consultants where necessary.

You are strongly advised to commission and submit a professional agricultural appraisal of your holding and enterprises with your application. This should cover the following matters in detail.

Description of the Holding

Future plans for a proposed holding or the expansion or changes to an existing holding

A brief description of the holding, the activities it carries out and future plans.

Extent of the Holding

Shown on a scaled map.

Show the site of the application in red, other land owned edged in blue and any rented land edged in green.

The red line surrounding the application site should include all of the area that you wish to have as domestic curtilage and any access required thereto.

Buildings and Fixed Equipment

A list of all buildings, their dimensions and usage.

Livestock and Cropping

Numbers and hectarage both existing and proposed.

Labour

Including yourself, other family members and any other workers on the holding.

Give details of any changes proposed.

Existing Dwellings

Set out all existing dwellings associated with the holding and the applicant's immediate family.

Who owns them, how large they are and when they were built.

Dwellings Previously Sold Off

Set out any dwellings associated with the holding which have been sold off in the last ten years.

Indicate why they were sold off, their location and who they housed.

Existing Buildings / Alternative Dwellings

Indicate if there are any buildings on the holding which may be capable for conversion to a dwelling, or, if there are such buildings why you consider that they cannot be converted.

Indicate whether you have sought other accommodation nearby and why any nearby dwellings are not suitable.

Functional Need

The case is based on the functional requirements of the holding which you are putting forward.

Details of the farming system giving rise to the functional requirements are required.

Financial Test

You may wish to provide financial information to demonstrate that the holding is viable enough to support the proposal.

Ourselves or our consultant may require access to this information in cases where such viability is not clear cut.

Proposal Commensurate with the Functional Requirements of the Holding

Make clear the total floor area of the dwelling you are applying for, even if the proposal is in outline.

The floor area is to be measured externally to include all floors. Garaging should be specified separately.

This information is to ensure that the proposal is commensurate with the holding.

Please note that the above list is not definitive and you will need to refer to the criteria for validating planning applications at Planning Application Validation Guidance and Local Validation Criteria (staffordbc.gov.uk)

If you do not provide all the information required your application may be delayed.

If submitting in a hard copy please ensure all information including plans and maps are provided with the submission.