Class E – forestry developments

Class E of Part 6 provides permitted development rights for development reasonably necessary for forestry, including afforestation. It can permit forestry buildings, private ways and certain other operations, subject to the detailed limitations and the prior approval procedure explained below.

Agricultural status by itself is not enough. Class E depends on the land being used for forestry purposes and on the development being reasonably necessary for those purposes.

What can Class E permit?

Class E can cover forestry buildings, the formation, alteration or maintenance of private ways, operations to obtain materials needed for those ways and certain other operations that are reasonably necessary for forestry. The residual “other operations” limb does not include engineering or mining operations.

The right does not allow the provision or alteration of a dwelling. A forestry or rural workers’ dwelling is a separate planning question.

Class E is not simply Class B for woodland

Class E is drafted differently from the agricultural rights. It expressly covers forestry buildings and private ways, but it does not contain the same itemised rights that Class B gives for agricultural plant and machinery, sewers, mains, pipes, cables, hard surfaces and deposits of waste.

That distinction matters in practice. A forestry worker should not assume that a standalone machinery installation, service trench, cable run, hardstanding or waste deposit is permitted development under Class E simply because it is needed for the forestry business. Some works may not amount to development at all, and others may fall within another GPDO right, but Class E itself needs to be checked carefully.

The residual Class E right for “other operations” expressly excludes engineering and mining operations. A standalone forestry yard or hardstanding may amount to an engineering operation, for example, whereas a forestry private way is separately and expressly covered by Class E(b).

When does farmland become forestry land?

Planting trees does not create an automatic right to use Class E. There is no fixed number of trees, minimum area or period of time after planting which changes the answer. The question is whether the primary use of the relevant land is forestry, including afforestation.

A farmer can therefore create genuine new woodland and move into Class E before the trees mature, provided the land is genuinely being used for afforestation and forestry rather than trees simply being planted as a device to obtain the forestry permitted development right.

Evidence can include a woodland creation or management plan, planting density and species, thinning or felling proposals, Forestry Commission or grant documentation and actual woodland management. The stronger the proposed development, the more important it is to be able to demonstrate the forestry use itself.

Woodland can still be agricultural

The planning definition of agriculture includes woodland where its woodland use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes. A shelter belt, riparian strip, farm coppice or trees planted primarily to support grazing or cropping may therefore remain part of the agricultural use rather than becoming Class E forestry land.

Fruit growing, seed growing and nursery grounds are also expressly agricultural uses. A large number of trees is therefore not enough, by itself, to establish forestry.

Can a forestry holding also contain agricultural land?

Yes. Ownership does not force the whole holding into one Part 6 Class. A forestry estate can contain fields genuinely used for agriculture, and a farm can contain a separate block genuinely used for forestry.

An agricultural field does not become Class E land merely because it is owned with adjoining woodland. Conversely, a primary forestry block should not normally be counted towards the Class A or B agricultural unit unless its woodland use is genuinely ancillary to the farming operation.

Where agriculture and forestry are competing primary uses of the same land, there is a real risk of a mixed use which falls outside Class E. In that situation it may also be difficult to rely on Classes A or B. Agroforestry therefore needs a factual assessment of which use is primary and whether the other is genuinely ancillary or incidental.

The change of use itself is usually not the planning issue

Using land for agriculture or forestry, including afforestation, is excluded from the statutory definition of development. The shift from a field to genuine woodland therefore does not normally require planning permission merely as a change of use.

That does not remove other controls. Woodland creation can engage the Forestry Commission’s environmental impact assessment regime, and buildings, tracks, hardstanding or other operations still need to fall within the appropriate permitted development right or have planning permission.

Forestry buildings

Class E can permit the erection, extension or alteration of a building where it is reasonably necessary for forestry. The right applies to land used for forestry, including afforestation, so it is not confined to a mature established woodland.

Unlike Class A and Class B, Class E contains no general floor-area limit for a forestry building. It also contains no general 12 metre height cap outside the aerodrome restriction. That does not make the right unlimited: the development must still be reasonably necessary for forestry and new buildings are subject to the prior approval procedure for siting, design and external appearance.

Private forestry ways

Class E expressly permits the formation, alteration and maintenance of private ways where reasonably necessary for forestry. Formation and alteration are subject to the Class E prior approval procedure, but ordinary maintenance is not listed in E.2(1) as a prior approval trigger.

Class E also specifically permits operations on the forestry land, or on land held or occupied with it, to obtain the materials required for forming, altering or maintaining those private ways. This is a separate express limb of Class E and should not be confused with the residual “other operations” limb.

Other forestry operations

Class E can also permit other operations reasonably necessary for forestry, but the legislation expressly excludes engineering and mining operations from this residual category. Whether a particular activity is an “other operation”, an engineering operation or not development at all can be a matter of fact and degree, so this is an area where checking the route before work begins is sensible.

 

Forestry prior approval

The erection of a forestry building, and the formation or alteration of a private way, is subject to the 28-day prior notification procedure before work starts. The local planning authority is asked whether its prior approval is required for the siting, design and external appearance of a building or, for a private way, its siting and means of construction.

The application must include a written description of the proposed development, the materials to be used, a plan indicating the site and the required fee.

At the first stage the authority can confirm that prior approval is not required, notify within 28 days that prior approval is required, or allow the 28-day period to expire without making or notifying a determination. If prior approval is required, that approval must be obtained before development begins. If the authority confirms that approval is not required, or the statutory 28-day period expires without a determination or notification, the development may proceed subject to full compliance with Class E.

If prior approval is required, the applicant must also display the statutory site notice for at least 21 days within the relevant 28-day period. Displaying the notice is a procedural requirement. It does not itself grant prior approval.

Extensions and alterations are slightly different

A non-significant extension or alteration to a forestry building that is not on Article 2(4) land can proceed without the E.2(1) prior notification procedure. A significant extension or alteration remains subject to the procedure, as does an extension or alteration on Article 2(4) land.

For Class E, a significant extension or alteration means one that increases the cubic content of the original building by more than 10% or increases its height. The 10% figure is not a general maximum size for a forestry extension: it is the threshold at which the extension becomes “significant” for the Class E procedure. A significant extension or significant alteration can only be carried out once under Class E.

Important location and use limits

Class E is not available where any part of the development would be within 25 metres of the metalled part of a trunk road or classified road. Within 3 kilometres of the perimeter of an aerodrome, the height of a building or works cannot exceed 3 metres.

There are also specific rules for buildings storing fuel for, or waste from, a biomass boiler or anaerobic digestion system. Class E does not allow such a building to be used for waste from another system or for fuel that was not produced on land occupied together with the building for forestry purposes.

Class E also treats certain biomass boiler, anaerobic digestion, fuel or waste storage and hydro-turbine development as capable of being reasonably necessary for forestry, but the development must still satisfy the rest of the Class.

Five year implementation period

Development subject to the E.2 prior notification procedure must normally be carried out within 5 years. Where prior approval is given, the period runs from the date of approval. Otherwise it runs from the date the required information was given to the local planning authority.

Where prior approval is required, the works must follow the approved details unless the authority agrees otherwise in writing. Where it is not required, the works must follow the details submitted.

How Planning Geek can help with forestry planning

Forestry proposals often turn on whether the development is genuinely reasonably necessary for forestry, the siting of a building or track and whether the correct prior approval procedure has been followed. We can check the planning route, prepare the prior notification package, deal with a prior approval request and advise where a full planning application or another consent is needed.

Other Agricultural Sections

 

 

Legislation

Class E – forestry developments

Permitted development

E. The carrying out on land used for the purposes of forestry, including afforestation, of development reasonably necessary for those purposes consisting of—
(a) works for the erection, extension or alteration of a building;

(b) the formation, alteration or maintenance of private ways;

(c) operations on that land, or on land held or occupied with that land, to obtain the materials required for the formation, alteration or maintenance of such ways;

(d) other operations (not including engineering or mining operations).

Development not permitted

E.1 Development is not permitted by Class E if—
(a) it would consist of or include the provision or alteration of a dwelling;

(b) the height of any building or works within 3 kilometres of the perimeter of an aerodrome would exceed 3 metres in height;

(c) any part of the development would be within 25 metres of the metalled portion of a trunk road or classified road; or

(d) any building for storing fuel for, or waste from, a biomass boiler or an anaerobic digestion system would be used for storing waste not produced by that boiler or system or for storing fuel not produced on land which is occupied together with that building for the purposes of forestry.

Conditions

E.2—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (3), development consisting of the erection of a building or the extension or alteration of a building or the formation or alteration of a private way is permitted by Class E subject to the following conditions—
(a) the developer must, before beginning the development, apply to the local planning authority for a determination as to whether the prior approval of the authority will be required as to the siting, design and external appearance of the building or, as the case may be, the siting and means of construction of the private way;

(b) the application must be accompanied by a written description of the proposed development, the materials to be used and a plan indicating the site together with any fee required to be paid;

(c) the development must not begin before the occurrence of one of the following—
(i) the receipt by the applicant from the local planning authority of a written notice of their determination that such prior approval is not required;
(ii) where the local planning authority give the applicant notice within 28 days following the date of receiving the applicant’s application of their determination that such prior approval is required, the giving of such approval;
(iii) the expiry of 28 days following the date on which the application under subparagraph (1)(b) was received by the local planning authority without the local planning authority making any determination as to whether such approval is required or notifying the applicant of their determination;

(d) where the local planning authority give the applicant notice that such prior approval is required, the applicant must—
(i) display a site notice by site display on or near the land on which the proposed development is to be carried out, leaving the notice in position for not less than 21 days in the period of 28 days from the date on which the local planning authority gave the notice to the applicant;
(ii) where the site notice is, without any fault or intention of the applicant, removed, obscured or defaced before the period of 21 days referred to in paragraph (d)(i) has elapsed, the applicant is treated as having complied with the requirements of that sub-paragraph if the applicant has taken reasonable steps for protection of the notice and, if need be, its replacement;

(e) the development must, except to the extent that the local planning authority otherwise agree in writing, be carried out—
(i) where prior approval is required, in accordance with the details approved;
(ii) where prior approval is not required, in accordance with the details submitted with the application; and

(f) the development must be carried out—
(i) where approval has been given by the local planning authority, within a period of 5 years from the date on which approval was given,
(ii) in any other case, within a period of 5 years from the date on which the local planning authority were given the information referred to in paragraph (b).

(2) In the case of development consisting of the significant extension or the significant alteration of the building such development may be carried out only once.

(3) Sub-paragraph (1) does not preclude the extension or alteration of a building if the building is not on article 2(4) land except in the case of a significant extension or a significant alteration.

Interpretation of Class E

E.3—(1) For the purposes of Class E—
“significant extension” or “significant alteration” means any extension or alteration, as the case may be, of the building where the cubic content of the original building would be exceeded by more than 10% or the height of the building as extended or altered would exceed the height of the original building; and

“site notice” means a notice containing—
(a) the name of the applicant,
(b) the address or location of the proposed development,
(c) a description of the proposed development and of the materials to be used,
(d) a statement that the prior approval of the authority will be required as to the siting, design and external appearance of the building or, as the case may be, the siting and means of construction of the private way,
(e) the name and address of the local planning authority, and which is signed and dated by or on behalf of the applicant.

(2) For the purposes of Class E, development that is reasonably necessary for the purposes of forestry includes works for the erection, extension or alteration of a building for housing a biomass boiler or an anaerobic digestion system; for storage of fuel for or waste from that boiler or system; or for housing a hydro-turbine.

 

 

Class E Forestry Developments Page Updated: 23rd September 2026