Chalk downs, river valleys and forest: planning for Hampshire farms

Hampshire farming is as varied as its landscape. Big arable fields on thin chalk soils, watercress beds fed by spring water around Alresford, dairy and livestock in the valleys, vineyards on south facing slopes and commoners grazing the New Forest. New building, barn conversion or fresh enterprise, each one goes better with a farm planning consultant in Hampshire who understands chalk, forest and river.

2 National Parks, protected rivers and rules that keep moving

Hampshire holds the New Forest National Park and part of the South Downs National Park, along with parts of the North Wessex Downs, Cranborne Chase and Chichester Harbour National Landscapes. Some permitted development rights work differently in these areas. The Test and Itchen are protected chalk rivers, nutrient neutrality still applies across several catchments, and Green Belt surrounds the edge of the New Forest. Councils across the county are due to be reorganised by 2028, so even the authority you deal with is set to change.

All of that means more evidence, more cost and more time before you get an answer. It is wearing, and it is unfair. People who care for this landscape every day should not have to fight to keep their farms working.

Guidance from people who live and breathe farm planning

We know how it feels when the future of your farm sits in someone else's in tray. Foxes Rural represents farms and estates and nobody else. Our files are farm building prior notifications, Class Q houses from redundant barns, Class R commercial schemes and full countryside applications. We understand National Park and National Landscape tests, nutrient rules on the chalk rivers and how to make a strong case for agricultural need. 95% of the applications we lodge end in approval.

Getting a Hampshire scheme decided in 3 steps

Call 01206 481981. Explain the estate or farm and the scheme you would like to see built or converted.
We build the strategy. National Park, National Landscape or open downland, we pick the consent route that fits and commission only the surveys it requires.
We manage the council. We lodge the papers, keep in step with the officer and press for a decision without needless delay.

Across Hampshire, from Andover to the Solent

Basingstoke and Deane
East Hampshire
Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport and Havant
Hart and Rushmoor
New Forest District
Test Valley
Winchester
New Forest National Park
South Downs National Park
North Wessex Downs, Cranborne Chase and Chichester Harbour National Landscapes

Our Hampshire clients farm and manage estates near Alresford, Romsey, Stockbridge, Andover, Whitchurch, Alton, Odiham, Petersfield, Bishops Waltham, Ringwood, Fordingbridge and Lymington. Every summer the county turns out for the New Forest and Hampshire County Show at Brockenhurst, and we are pleased to back the farmers who make it a success.

Hampshire land, put to work

Hambledon Vineyard has made wine on its chalk slopes since 1952. Vitacress grows watercress and salad from its base at St Mary Bourne, and Laverstoke Park Farm near Overton farms 2,500 acres biodynamically, buffalo included. Each grew because buildings and consents came at the right moment. Your farm can do the same.

Planning is all we do

Across the county, estates turn to Savills, Knight Frank, Carter Jonas and BCM for management, sales and lettings. Farm planning is all Foxes Rural does, so your scheme is never fitted in around other instructions.

When a planning mistake costs dear

In a National Park or beside a protected river, an application without the right evidence can be refused, and a building put up without consent can lead to enforcement. Every month lost to delay is a month your barn, yard or new enterprise is not earning.

Your Hampshire farm, with permission granted

Stock or machinery under a new roof, a flint barn reborn as a home or workspace, and an estate in good shape for its next custodians. Call Foxes Rural on 01206 481981 to share your Hampshire plans.

Farm Planning Consultants in Hampshire