Policy information sourced from Mole Valley Local Plan

RUD19 - RE-USE AND ADAPTATION OF RURAL BUILDINGS

The re-use and adaptation of buildings in the countryside will be permitted provided:

  • the buildings are of permanent and substantial construction and are capable of conversion without major or complete reconstruction;
  • on land within the Green Belt, the proposal does not have a materially greater impact than the present use on the openness of the Green Belt and the purposes of including land in it;
  • the associated uses of land surrounding the building(s) would not materially harm the character and amenities of the area and, in the case of sites within the Green Belt, conflict with the openness of the Green Belt and the purposes of including land within it;
  • the proposed use and the form, bulk and general design of the building(s) are in keeping with their surroundings;
  • the conversion does not lead to dispersal of activity on such a scale as to prejudice town and village vitality;
  • the use can be contained within the building(s) without extension, or external storage, other than such provisions which can be made without any adverse effect on the building, its surroundings or, in the case of sites in the Green Belt, the openness of the Green Belt;
  • any conversion works will be carried out in a manner appropriate to the character of the building(s) and have no adverse impact on its surroundings;
  • the amount of traffic likely to be generated by the proposal would not prejudice highway safety or cause significant harm to the environmental character of country roads.

Where the Council has reasonable cause to believe that an applicant has attempted to abuse the system by constructing a new farm building with the benefit of permitted development rights, with the intention of early conversion to another use, it will investigate the history of the building to establish whether it was ever used for the purpose for which it was claimed to have been built.

Subsequent rebuilding of re-used buildings will not be permitted, and permitted development rights for extensions will be removed by condition.

For more information please see the Local Plan