In April 2017 we applied to Wealden District Council for planning consent to set up our second cluster of affordable smallholdings.

As at Greenham Reach, our first smallholding cluster established in 2014, we were seeking permission for three affordable residential smallholdings for new entrants to ecological agriculture. In planning that is: a change of use to site three temporary dwellings, permission to construct a timber barn and area of hard-standing, and changes to the road access from the field. We are applying for a five-year temporary planning consent.

The application documentation can be viewed by clicking on the links below and can also be viewed via Wealden Council’s Planning and Building Control Register (search for application no. WD/2017/0340/F)

Previous to our planning application submission we held two public meetings for local residents in September and November 2016. You can read about the issues that emerged from these and our responses here.

We also consulted with Arlington Parish Council prior to submission. You can read the comments we received from Arlington Parish Council and our subsequent amendments to the proposed Management Plan and Section 106 Agreement here.

In November 2017, we lodged an appeal against Wealden District Council’s failure to determine our planning application. You can read about the reasons for the appeal and our appeal documentation here. The appeal was due to take place in September 2018.

In August 2018 however, we were granted the temporary planning permission we had applied for. Due to an unexpected turn of events we were invited to submit a second duplicate application (WD/2018/1473/F) which was given approval as a delegated decision by the planning officer. 

The key problem we had faced was due to the council’s moratorium on all new developments that could give rise to a net increase in vehicle movements through the Ashdown Forest, a habitat of European nature conservation importance that hosts a variety of protected species. The ELC’s Zoe Wangler had responded to this valid and important concern with thorough research demonstrating that our development would not increase traffic in the Ashdown Forest and we are extremely pleased that the council accepted this and we did not need to go through with our appeal.

We are now seeking applicants for our smallholdings in Arlington - to find out more visit our main Arlington page. 

Planning Application Documents

• Cover Letter
• Site Location Plan
• Proposed Block Plan (the proposed site design)
• Proposed Barn
• Planning Statement
• Design and Access Statement
• Business Plans
• Proposed Road Access
• Ecological Appraisal
• Impact on the Ashdown Forest
• Community Infrastructure Levy form
• Appendix 1: Ecological Land Co-operative Decision Notice Greenham Reach
• Appendix 2: Example Monitoring Report, Greenham Reach
• Appendix 3: Draft Section 106 Unilateral Undertaking
• Appendix 4: Management Plan for the New Smallholdings at Arlington
• Appendix 5: Proposed Schedule of Conditions
• Appendix 6: Example letters of support
• Appendix 7: Tree and Hedge Planting Proposals
• Appendix 8: ELC Publication Small is Successful
• Appendix 9: ELC Business Plan 2015-2020
• Appendix 10: Table of Planning Decisions for Farm/Horticultural Businesses on less than 10 acres
• Appendix 11: Illustrative Smallholder Functional Need
• Appendix 12: Details of the Proposed PV panels

Appeal Documents

• Appeal Statement: containing all the documentation submitted as part of the appeal process
• including example business plans for the three smallholdings, market research, and profiles of potential new entrants to farming in East Sussex.
• Appeal Evidence:
  • Impact of the Proposed Development on the Ashdown Forest SAC - Zoe Wangler
  • Proof of Evidence: Financial Viability and Functional Need - Zoe Wangler
  • Business options and financial viability - Mark Measures and Iain Tolhurst
  • General support of the concept of enabling new entrants to farming to develop innovative new businesses based on ecological principles and sound business planning - Professor Moya Kneafsey, Coventry University Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilienc

“ The motivation behind the Ecological Land co-operative’s vision echo our pursuit of working to create food systems that are beneficial to people and the natural world. The Ecological Land Co-operative have worked tirelessly to address these issues by engaging with policy and proposing real, concrete solutions.”

Patrick Holden, Sustainable Food Trust