The Poultry Keeper

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 492 Location: gwent

hooray

finally the sale has been completed it all went through OK this morning after a long wait so its definitely ours i just got back from the council and spoke to the lady who deals with tree preservation orders she was really nice and helpful too .we have several ash,oak and cherry trees that have tpo's on them but they are all on our boundary thankfully.but she did advise me about the door mice issue and gave me a contact number for somebody who can advise us before we do any weed clearance ,i cant wait to get started now its ours we can go ahead and get all the stuff we need.one question do we have to pay for an architect to give us a quote on how much they will charge to do plans etc?or do they charge for that?time to go and order some fencing stuff .just wondered are there shelter that can be used for goats that would not require planning permission?(example a certain size or anything?) Very Happy

fenwoman · Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 5:03 pm Post subject:

You should have had a word with the planning department to ask advice about what would need planning permission. I think as a rule of thumb, and non permanent structure would be fine, so a timber building like a large shed, which could be dismantled and moved will not need planning.
Good luck with the dormice.
I'm actually amazed that Ash and bird cherry trees have a PO on them. They are considered to be weeds here and indeed I have to hoe regularly to stop a forest of the things developing on my land.

poultry poofs · Posted: Wed May 31, 2006 12:06 pm Post subject:

Do architects charge? more like how many noughts attached to the price!

There are usually people who advertise in your local press who will draw up plans for building planning applications and will often do the whole application for you for a reasonable fee plus the cost of the council fees.They are usually very knowledgeable on the regulations and be able to advise you whats best and have a good working relationship with the local planning departments.If you cant find anyone ring the planning department and ask them if they can recommend anyone to draw up your plans for you.

rich

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 492 Location: gwent

thanks for the advice we finally managed to get a digger and to our horror whilst clearing a small area of the ground by the hard standing so that we can have access to it all up there and want to sort out a drainage issue we have and to our horror we have uncovered about 40 tons worth of fly tipped stuff!it grown over with a layer of leaf litter that had composted and brambles so when we went to clear it all it all uncovered!anyway we have been picking it out and sifting through the soil and now have a huge pile of it waiting to be sorted through and removed via a few skips.our neighbor has kindly given us a structural engineer number who he said would be a lot cheaper than an architect so we are going to give him a call ,and possibly have a ring around and see what other options we have too like the one you suggested rich as we need to keep costs down.we have managed to get one fence up along the public footpath and are currently digging out a road so we can access the top to get our fencing stuff up there pretty impossible at the moment as its so overgrown and uneven but we are getting there slowly ,where we have disturbed the soil and its just a mud patch i have ordered some wildflower seeds and grass seeds to plant over there so within few weeks it should be looking much nicer so hopefully passers by will not complain.we were thinking about getting a few sheep only about two when we get the goats just to eat the things the goats don't eat and we would love two pigs maybe too but not sure how many we can afford to keep as we need to keep costs down.if there was a way of making them work for us e.g breeding pigs to cover the extra cost that would be brilliant but as I'm not a farmer and new to this livestock keeping i don't know if there is a demand for it or not or even where to begin finding out from mind saying that i was thinking of popping up the college i used to go to and asking there.well i think we are doing great so far considering I'm now 4 months pregnant and have a toddler and my husband works full time we are managing to get the work done up there that's needed its probably going to take a very long time to get it how we want it but i don't regret it for one minute i am just looking forward to having my own smallholding and being able to enjoy it and watch my children grow up there with all the animals which is some thing not many kids round here do as we are right next to a city most of the children would not have a clue when it comes to wildlife and animals i think its a real shame because they are missing so much Very Happy

anyway sorry i have not been on here for a while as you can imagine I'm very busy now lol ,but will pop in when i get a chance to see how you all are.

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7336 Location: isle of lewis

great news ,well done
suz

debcat · Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 6:00 pm Post subject:

Have you got before and after pics?
would love to see what it looks like now

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

You've certainly been very busy ~ sorry you had to unearth the mound of rubbish though. Maybe you could get some student from the college to help out on the land and with the animals ~ as part of their agricultural course ~ if they run a course like that.

Bur first and foremost don't overdo it ~ like debcat says, pics would be nice