Our planning team has considerable experience in dealing with rural diversification projects.
Many farm diversification plans include renewable energy, residential development, tourism proposals such as glamping pods and shepherd huts, mixed-use schemes such as farm shops and cafes and flexible commercial business units.
Recognising the aesthetic and historical value of traditional farm buildings, new planning policy continues to promote the re-use and conversion of redundant farm buildings.
This encourages bringing buildings that are not suitable for modern agricultural practices, back into effective use where it will support the rural economy.
Although subsidies for renewable energy have reduced in recent years, they have not dried up completely and with the technology improving all the time, payback periods are shortening making investments viable even without grant funding in some cases.
At a time of increasing energy prices, it could be a smart move to reduce your dependency on centralised energy sources.
