In 2023 and 2024, Shared Assets was a member of the Future Farms Partnership - a group which continues to work in various ways to develop a more regenerative food system, sharing a vision for more agroecological horticultural enterprises across Wales. 

During our involvement in the project, the partnership sought planning permission to create three micro units for agroecological horticulture enterprises in Powys, and developed planning guidance for Rural Enterprise Dwellings (REDs) for small-scale farming businesses. While planning is not the most exciting topic for the average person, it is a key leverage point for land and food system change. 

Being successful in securing planning permission is vital for flourishing rural economies – it could mean the difference between a thriving horticultural business and a struggling one. For instance, being able to build a home to live in on site can make it far more feasible to do crucial early morning watering, or react quickly in bad weather to secure infrastructure, than if you have to commute from a nearby village.

Work is now well underway on the ground to get these small-scale farms and dwellings up and running for this year’s growing season. As Shared Assets steps back from the everyday work of the partnership, we wanted to highlight the main output we contributed to - the ‘How To Guide’ aimed at growers in Powys seeking planning permission for dwellings on new or more established horticultural enterprises. 

One of the key achievements of the Future Farms Partnership to date has been the development and publication of ‘Planning Guidance for Rural Enterprise Dwellings for Small-Scale Horticulture’ by Powys County Council, which was worked on collaboratively by TerraPermaGeo and planners at the Council, supported by other members of the Partnership. 

This guidance is now available on the Council’s website and other local authorities are encouraged to borrow from it, or adapt it wholesale, for their context, so planners across Wales have a clearer framework to enable them to understand and approve small scale growing enterprises seeking Rural Enterprise Dwellings. 

Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority has already done this here, and we helped facilitate a webinar in late January to support other planners to do the same.   

However, for the layperson, this planning guidance could still be a little overwhelming. So, Shared Assets and the Landworkers’ Alliance decided to work with growers in Wales, with various levels of experience in navigating the planning system, to produce an additional guide. 

This ‘How To Guide’ will support growers to understand what the new planning guidance means, and be able to put together an application for RED planning permission which would meet the evidence requirements. 

We held focus groups and a series of review processes over the course of 2024 to do this, and want to extend a big thanks to all the growers who were very generous in their feedback to make the Guide what it is! This Guide can be accessed here (English and Welsh). The Guide outlines the planning process and the ‘tests’ applicants have to meet for their RED to be approved, before going through each question of the planning application form in detail to provide advice on how to answer them.

Although this How to Guide is specific to the requirements of the Powys County Council planning guidance, we think it may be of broader inspiration to growers in Wales looking for support in compiling a planning application. We also hope that if other councils or planning authorities go on to adapt Powys’ guidance, they might consider working with organisations like ours to produce another document aimed specifically at growers in their area.

Planning is often seen as a barrier to agroecological farming and workers’ housing, but the Powys guidance, complemented by this How to Guide, show how existing planning regulations can be used in service of supporting more local food production and dignified livelihoods for growers, if the means to interpret them are put in place. 

With concerns currently high about how changes to the planning system in the UK might lead to further destruction of nature, it's all the more important to advocate for work which highlights how planning can both support local economies and improve biodiversity.