Flood zones, protected land and listed buildings

Where a farm building goes matters as much as what it looks like. These are the things a council checks about the site, and what each one means for a new barn in England.

Flood zones

The Environment Agency's flood map for planning puts land in Flood Zone 1 (low risk), 2 (medium) or 3 (high risk from rivers or the sea). Farm buildings are a "less vulnerable" use, which national policy can accept in Zones 2 and 3a, but not in the functional floodplain (Zone 3b), which your council maps. A full planning application in Zone 2 or 3 needs a site-specific flood risk assessment. Under prior approval the council can take flood risk into account when it looks at the siting.

Protected landscapes

• National Parks and National Landscapes (formerly AONBs): farm buildings can still go up, but the council looks harder at siting, size, materials and colour. Expect to be asked for darker colours, timber cladding or planting.
• Conservation areas: the council looks at the effect on the area's character. A full application there needs a Design and Access Statement.
• Article 4 directions: some councils take away particular permitted development rights in an area. Ask the council what a direction covers before relying on prior approval.
• Green Belt: buildings for agriculture are not "inappropriate development" there, though siting is still judged.

Wildlife sites

• Sites of Special Scientific Interest: work on SSSI land usually needs Natural England's consent, and the council will consult them.
• Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas and Ramsar sites: under the Habitats Regulations, permitted development that is likely to have a significant effect on one cannot start until the council has approved it, after Natural England's advice.
• Ancient woodland: losing it is refused except in wholly exceptional cases, and a buffer is usually kept round it.

Heritage

• Scheduled monuments: a farm building on or within the curtilage of one is not permitted development, and work to a monument needs scheduled monument consent.
• Listed buildings: a new building close to one is judged on its effect on the listed building's setting. A short heritage statement helps.
• Registered parks, gardens and battlefields: the council consults Historic England on development affecting them.

Checked for you

When you draw your building in Auto Shed Plans, the Planning tab looks up the flood zone from the Environment Agency and the designations and listed buildings from the government's planning data, for exactly where you drew it. The results go into the planning check and the supporting statement. Councils publish some of this data themselves (conservation areas, Article 4 directions, tree preservation orders and Green Belt) and not all have yet, so confirm those with your council.

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