News, information and updates

2018 was an extremely popular year for agricultural and rural grants with Carver Knowles securing over £500,000 worth of funding for local farmers and businesses. The majority of these grants such as LEADER and the Rural Development Programme grants were funded with European money and the schemes have now started to close to new applications. […]

When it comes to horses the question of whether planning consent is required or not can become confusing. Most people are unsure what their permitted development rights are and what they may or may not need planning for. Change of use Horses can be grazed on agricultural land as long as they are not being […]

Once again the team at Upton and Pershore NFU organised an excellent panel to discuss ‘How to be a Farmer and Park Keeper’ providing advice to the audience on making the best of opportunities to develop your rural business. The conference was attended by over 150 local farmers and rural professionals. The first speaker of […]

Why are farmers best placed to borrow for build projects? Project finance in the commercial development sector is often difficult and costly, with annual interest rates well over 10% and strict requirements placed on the borrower. However, farmers are in a unique position of strength when it comes to borrowing for developments and building projects. […]

Planning permission is typically not at the top of any horse owners list of priorities unless perhaps you are looking into building new facilities. Proposals to create permanent equine facilities where you are physically building on or altering the land will obviously always need planning permission, but the use of land for grazing horses and […]

Over the past few months we have had a great number of planning successes across Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire. These cover a wide range of areas, including: Class Q permitted developments Agricultural Occupancy Condition removals New agricultural workers dwellings Barn conversions Stables Gallops New access tracks Caravan sites Retrospective change of use Class Q Earlier […]

The Joint Core Strategy (JCS) is the strategic development plan between Gloucester City Council, Cheltenham Borough Council and Tewkesbury Borough Council. It sets out the land allocated for housing and employment for the period of 2011 – 2031. The JCS have published an ‘Issues and Options’ consultation. This consultation will review a number of key […]

Carver Knowles are delighted to be supporting the Pershore and Upton upon Severn Branch of the NFU at their annual conference in the New Year. The Pershore Conference will be held at its usual venue at Pershore College on Thursday 24th January 2019.   As ever, NFU group secretary, Ray Foster-Morrison, has organised what promises […]

The Severn Trent Environmental Protection Scheme (STEPS) provides grants up to £5,000 for infrastructure improvement and land management changes for farmers situated within the Severn Trent Target Areas. STEPS has been specifically designed to protect and improve watercourses as well as the wider environment by supporting infrastructure improvements which are above and beyond good agricultural […]

It has been nearly one year since the Electronic Communications Code came into force, governing new agreements for mobile phone masts and telephone and broadband apparatus. So what are the early experiences of working under the new code? The market for new leases/renewals for mobile phone masts is progressing very slowly with few deals being […]