Taunton News November 2014

Taunton News November 2014 Basic Payment Scheme – Farm Health Check Service The Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) will begin

for farmers to ignore the greening rules

Stewardship (ELS) agreement holders will be subject to amendments or payment reductions. This number includes Organic ELS (OELS) agreement holders.

These reforms are wide reaching and will impact on farms small and large. Our team of specialist farm consultants are well placed to offer sound practical advice to prepare farm businesses for the changes brought about by BPS.

from 1st January 2015. Planning ahead will be crucial and the on-farm decisions your clients are making now could affect the new scheme.

Under BPS farmers will have to adapt to a lower basic payment rate, the introduction of greening measures (Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) & Crop Diversification) and an online application process by default. The ‘greening element’ of the BPS will be worth 30% of the entire payment. It is possible

but this will be seen as non-compliance and could ultimately lead to penalties.

Farmers will need to put serious thought into the planning of future rotations and the location and type of EFA’s. The Ecological Focus Area will be based on 5% of the arable area and there are a number of options that can be used with various weightings due to environmental benefit.

Aside from the introduction of the BPS, DEFRA predicts that 4,000 Entry Level

Woodland Gr ant Update

Smiths Gore’s South West Farm Consultancy team are available across the South West to undertake an on farm BPS “Health Check” which will help claimants to make informed decisions before it is too late.

For more information and advice please contact: Philip Hodgkin t 01823 446986 e philip.hodgkin@smithsgore.co.uk

Eventful Times There is currently an increasing demand for new venues to cater for all types of events ranging from sporting, music and food events, weddings, photo shoots and filming.

This represents an opportunity for historic homes to realise additional income other than from traditional open house days.

The end of September marks the beginning of the end for the English Woodland Grant Scheme.

The majority of the grant suite has been closed to new applications: The Woodland Management Grant; Woodfuel Improvement Grant; Woodland Creation Grant; Woodland Regeneration Grant (those that are not plant health related) are no longer available.

The Forestry Commission will be taking applications for the Woodland Regeneration Grant for Phytophthora infected areas, Woodfuel Woodland Improvement Grant and the Woodland Planning Grant until the end of September 2014.

All applications including those already within the system will need to be approved

by December 31st 2014.

You may be aware of the new Environmental Land Management Scheme which is to be the new mechanism for delivering woodland grants and the existing Environmental Stewardship Scheme. Announcements from the government suggest that the Common Agricultural Policy reform will see woodland schemes becoming more focused than the previous Entry Level Stewardship and Higher Level Stewardship schemes.

More changes will be announced during the last quarter of 2014.

For advice on optimising your woodland grant income please contact:

Peter Topham t 01823 692644 e peter.topham@smithsgore.co.uk

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Unfortunately most property owners are not lucky enough to have an event organiser knock on the door therefore the marketing of a property is critical. Event organisers spend a considerable amount of time searching for the right venues so it is important to highlight the exceptional, unique qualities of what your property offers. Smiths Gore’s Event Management Team, by Lucy Back of the Taunton Office, are experienced in introducing potential venues to event organisers.

Our expertise in offering advice on feasibility studies, staffing issues, health and safety and planning issues can assist in assisting property owners address the potential issues that come with hosting an event. There are a range of issues to consider ranging from planning to the negotiating of fee and contractual detail all of which can be overcome with the correct advice to provide a potential valuable income source for an historic property.

Lucy Back t 01823 445035 e lucy.back@smithsgore.co.uk

23% more farms for sale in the South West as farmland values break £10,000 per acre barrier Farmland values topped £10,000 per acre for the first time ever in the second quarter of 2014, and have increased by 6% over the past 12 months. In the South West of the country, there are 23% more farms for sale compared with the same period in 2013.

The value of equipped land (land with a house and/or buildings) increased by 2% to an average of £11,000 per acre.Bare land values increased 2% to £7,200 per acre, demonstrating a return to the levels last witnessed by the market in 3Q2013.

Values are at record highs throughout the UK and Smiths Gore’s Farmland Market Model estimates that they will continue to remain at similar levels for the forseeable future.

“Investors continue to move their money into the ‘safe haven’ of farmland as an investment, with its obvious tax advantages, but farmers remain the dominant, if slightly more cautious, buyers, which makes lotting and marketing land attractively even more important than usual.

“Demand from both investors and farmer buyers is supporting competition for land and driving capital growth”.

To request a free market appraisal of your land please contact: Simon Derby t 01823 445036 e simon.derby@smithsgore.co.uk

New dwelling in the ‘countryside’ Proposed new dwellings outside of a settlement boundary usually face restrictive policies and a presumption against development. However, the Smiths Gore Taunton Planning team have successfully demonstrated how a Council’s lack of a ‘five year housing land supply’ provides the basis for a compelling case for planning permission for a dwelling outside a settlement boundary.

Our applied this approach for clients in Marlborough, Wiltshire. Following negative pre-application feedback from the Local Planning Authority, which advised that a new dwelling outside of a settlement boundary was not acceptable, the client approached Smiths Gore. After assessing the site and proposal, we worked closely with the client to submit an application, despite the LPA’s negative pre-application response.

In preparing the supporting information for the application, evidence that the Local Authority were unable to demonstrate a five year supply of deliverable housing sites was presented, changing the planning context significantly. This undermined the Council’s ability to argue that the policies referred to within their pre-application response carried significant weight.

A strong case was prepared, highlighting the benefits of the development, the sustainability credentials of the site, and the suitability of the site to accommodate the proposed new house. Following close liaison with the planning case officer and monitoring of the project the application was approved under delegated powers within eight weeks; a total reversal from the pre-application advice.

Through applying detailed knowledge and robust planning arguments, Smiths Gore was able to turn an initial negative response into a positive outcome, thus significant increasing the value of the site – much to the delight of the clients.

Steve Briggs t 01823 445039 e steve.briggs@smithsgore.co.uk

New addition to the Taunton Planning Team With effect from the 3rd November 2014 Smiths Gore’s Taunton Office will be able to offer the services of Dr Nikki Cook, a highly regarded and experienced heritage consultant with over 14 years’ experience of working the commercial heritage Sector in England and Wales at a senior level.

Nikki specialises in GIS, Desk-Based Assessment and Environmental Impact

Assessments, having both managed and worked on a number of complex, high-profile onshore and offshore schemes, as well as national strategic research projects. Nikki is a landscape archaeologist, with a particular passion for prehistory, but also has a keen interest in parks and gardens, built heritage and finding innovative ways to deal with the historic environment in the planning process. Nikki sits on ASAHRG, a working party for the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site.

Nikki’s work will encompass a broad spectrum of projects as she works alongside the planners, architects,

smithsgore.co.uk

building surveyors and rural surveyors within Smiths Gore, delivering positive outcomes for a wide range of clients. She will be based in the planning team at Taunton but her role as the firm’s Principal Heritage Consultant will extend across a much wider canvas.

Dr Nikki Cook t 01823 445039 e nikki.cook@smithsgore.co.uk

For more information, contact: Alexander Johnston t 01823 445030 e alex.johnston@smithsgore.co.uk