[Closed] Grassy field - what would you do with it?

doggingworld theme park

Any buildings? Do you want to invest to make money?

Plant trees for all your carbon offset goodness.

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It's flat, so MTB use is a no-go.

If you want a roll in or something a bit faster pop a shipping container as a start ramp, use 3 and you have a BMX track 😉

Get planning permission.

Plant a hay meadow

Any buildings? Do you want to invest to make money?

Don't want to build on it as it's next to my house! Wasn't really looking to invest as such, it's just sat doing nothing which seems a shame.

Lack of imagination
Pump Track

A few years back there was a pump track locally, it was amazing at first but tbh it got boring pretty quickly.

Those dirt jumps look pretty sweet right enough, not sure I've got the equipment/manpower/dedication for that kind of setup though!

Plant trees for all your carbon offset goodness.

Carbon offset appeals, what [s]tyres[/s] trees/plants for maximum CO.2 absorption?

Fruit trees, Britain needs orchards, and then you can buy a cider press!.

Bid for Mountain Mayhem 2017 ?

Planning permission on half? 5.5 acres is loads. You'll make a chunk I'm sure.

Campsite or put up stables and let to horsey types

Fence off an acre or so and rent it out to dog owners to let their mutts have off lead runs

Carpark

Build a housing estate and retire.

Caravan park.

I doubt you'd get permission to build, run a caravan park or anything like that.

Orchard sounds good but would require a lot of time investment. Are you looking to wet up a hobby business?

If it were mine I'd keep a corner for a poly tunnel and try to find horsey tenants

What about getting an ecological survey to find out if there are any interesting plants in it and making some wildlife habitat.

Easy gig a big hole line with clay and you have a large pond to stock with fish , plant a mixed orchard and a wild flower meadow. You now have a productive beautiful private park to relax in and a ready supply of fruit and cider and the occasional trout to catch and barbeque.

PP for secure caravan storage? Big fence with big conifers to hide it, CCTV etc. How many caravans could you get on it, X whatever the going rate is per year....

I'm sure grants are available to plant native species trees.

If you're not looking to profit from it then I really like the Orchard / pond idea and just use it to relax in and enjoy.

I'd love that much space on my doorstep to chill in...

Buried/semi buried 100metre concrete Pipe rifle range. Kerching.

Plant the rest with short rotation coppice and some screening trees.

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Plant some oak trees and sit back wait for the first harvest, you'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Rorschach blatantly has the right idea. With so many trails under threat some private land is perfect for trails and a pump track even if you don't recreate Gorge road (above).

Where in the UK is it? I'm sure you could get plenty of help.

Easy gig a big hole line with clay and you have a large pond to stock with fish , plant a mixed orchard and a wild flower meadow. You now have a productive beautiful private park to relax in and a ready supply of fruit and cider and the occasional trout to catch and barbeque.

That sounds ace actually. This is Scotland, so 'meadow' might be stretching it a bit, but using it as a sort of massive natural-esque garden is a good idea.

I'm sure grants are available to plant native species trees.

Intriguing.

Invite Parkrun, but then start charging them 😈

My cousin has a field like that in the country. He just bought his wife some horses. He explored trying to get planning and basically it was near impossible. He could get an agricultural building but he would have to be seen to using the land for a purpose that required the building.

Also be careful, changing the use of the land can cause massive changes in the water run off that occurs.

What is it zoned for?

You cannot simply turn agri land into "garden" they are very strict about what you can and cant do with it....

Gravel velodrome - resurrect the path racer (the real ones, not the pretend ones).

Install a badminton net. Bingo, instant nudist camp.

Sheep. Sheep are ace and lambs are awesome.

This will work with the orchard idea too aslong as you fence them off until the trees are mature.

This also works as a garden.

Big fishing lake/pond .

Make airstrip, buy microlight. 🙂

Rachel

I'd build some stables and rescue some donkeys.

You could create a private allotments for the community on part of it?

On the rest, a pond, meadow, Orchard with beehives, poly tunnel and some raised beds for your own veg throughout the year.

Fracking site?

Sculpture trail

A maize maze

(Actually - I've seen some good wildflower meadow mazes.)

Honey Badger Sanctuary

Build a temple and start your own death cult.

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Build it and they will come

I have the same (except split into 3 connected paddocks). If the fencing is very good then sheep is a decent option but you'll still have to install sheep netting.

Letting it out for horse grazing is an option, and will get you a bit of money, but will eventually make a mess of the fields and you'll have random people turning up at your house to see to the horses. Potentially they could arrive at 8am and not leave until 6pm.
Weed content can be an issue.

Otherwise, find a farmer who wants take it for hay (probably twice a year) - you'll not get any money for it but it will help keep it in shape and allow the wildlife to do its thing. It rather depends on what condition the grass is in and the amount of weeds and what they are.

We have a big mower so the two paddocks connected to the house are kept short and tidy. The 3rd paddock, which is also the biggest, is left for hay. I usually cut a 5' wide wriggly path through it with the mower which makes it great for a wander.

Edit: Xmas trees is another option - £1/year then 8 years later they're worth £20/tree! Keep threatening to do it myself.

A chap I know down the road dug a big lake and goes wakeboarding on it (he has lots of money).

Don't do caravan storage - that's what brownfield sites are for, plus caravanners like to keep them under cover if possible

caravan and camping club certificated 5 pitches only site
( http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/ukcampsites/smallsites/setting-up-a-certificated-site/)
with hay meadow/wild flower planting
pond
piles of wet wood (insect farm)
wild area

Are you aiming for money or fun?

Orchard is a great idea - plus you could build a pump track in the middle

Christmas tree farm.

Glamping. Plant a few trees, stick some yurts / shepherds huts / bell tents on it, compost loo. Sit back and count the money!

Get permission for some field shelters (or even stables for horses) and then sell the lot with the house as an equestrian property. Kerching!

Solar farm!

Landfill

Solar farm!

Grow barley, harvest barley, malt barley, brew beer and repeat.

Build a stable, hire to a horsey type; they chuck money about like you wouldn't believe.

This is Scotland, so 'meadow' might be stretching it a bit

No, you can have meadows in Scotland. The Northern Upland hay meadow with wood cranesbill used to be found in scotland.

This country needs houses; planning, self build and sell to someone to live in

ILW store?

An ebike, a barbecue and your friends.

A large, ride on railway.

A killing zone.

A festival.

A model village made of bacon.

A memorial to Dustin Gee.

Nude trampolining.

Your only going to get about £150 a month off the horse lot, they'll wreck your field, moan, expect water and shelter on site for the nags and swan about the place 7 days a week. No thanks!
When you come up with an alternative plan, please let me know we've got a field like yours doing nowt 😉

Hunger games arena.

Worlds first all fresco strip club? It being Scotland you could call it the blue lady.

Add some snow and make it a UK fatbike centre. 😉

Llama farm?

A few log cabins with hire bikes?

A maze using various bushes and trees?

Rare breed sheep for sheepdog training?

Dedicated BBQ spots with adventure playground for young kids?

Wind farm integrated into windmill esque holiday chalets?

run a cross race?

Its a shame the field is so flat, otherwise you could have a football pitch

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This grassy field... does it have a knoll? A library near-by?

Carbon offset appeals, what tyres trees/plants for maximum CO.2 absorption?

[url= http://learn.eartheasy.com/2014/01/10-carbon-storing-trees-and-how-to-plant-them/ ]http://learn.eartheasy.com/2014/01/10-carbon-storing-trees-and-how-to-plant-them/[/url]
We've got a couple of acres of Xmas trees, not necessarily interested in making money from the land.

Form a cult add some stone pillars and a sacrificial altar

We have a similar area, albeit not at all flat.

For us it is not an exercise in making money, rather it's an exercise in finding the kind of use which will keep it in the best condition and cost us the least. Someone else's sheep, grazing for a period of months then leaving it, has been our best answer so far. They're better grazers (keep the weeds down) than the small number of cattle we had before. Our predecessors had horses and it was apparently like the Somme. While horses may represent considerably more rent, my experience of horse tenants elsewhere has not been great - more people doing more, wanting more and making more mess, so I wanted to avoid that route - but YMMV.

I am looking into grants for woodland planting, which might be relevant if planting a proper area of woodland in certain native species. Regardless of financial help this appeals to me, as does some orchard, a wildflower area and possibly a pond, as suggested above. I understand all of this can be done on agricultural land if done the right way (so it doesn't become "garden").

I do reckon I could achieve some jumps on ours but not sure they'd get management approval!

I'm still voting for donkeys.
Or a swingers festival.
Or a swingers festival with donkeys.

yearly festival?

On a serious note where abouts? If near us I'll gladly put some sheep on there for you in return for meat/cash. Could do a few kid goats too from the local goat dairy if you fancy a bit of goat meat?

Don't let horses on it. They WILL trash the land as they compact it and ruin the drainage, churn it up and you end up with loads of ugly electric fences and piles of horse poo.

The other option of fruit trees is also very good. I believe there is a scheme out at the moment to encourage more fruit trees and if the trees are protected you may still be able to put some sheep on there or get someone local to you to do so.

The other option is put it up for grass keep but specify your terms clearly - eg no horses, no livestock between 31st Oct - March etc to save the land from being trashed. Auctions have normally taken place by now but people will always be looking for grazing or fields for hay.

Also if you have a college doing agriculture nearby then you could let the students use the land for keeping livestock, planting etc. Would be a good use of the land and you might get some produce and meat from it in return.

Burial ground, plant a tree next to your loved ones remains.

Mushroom farm and 5 bed detached with an agricultural tie?

Plant a design in daffodils that once a year will really amuse the occupants of the international space station

Maybe something like this - www.itsallaboutthedog.co.uk ?

I was going to suggest Caravan Club Certified Location. 5 vans only so you might find planning permission is easy. There are certainly loads in rural locations in fields next to houses. You can put in electric hookups if you want and toilets, but many CLs don't have them. All they have is a tap and a hole for your chemical toilet.

5 acres is massive, most of them are less than an acre. This makes it a good site imo. You'd be able to charge £7 or so a night, up to £15 (depending on location) if you had hookups. That could be £500/week in the season. We often have trouble booking in, and most of the time they're full. Of course if you're way out in the sticks it might not be as good.

Wild flowers, bee farm and honey bottling?

Been further pondering this.

Fence the perimeter and setup a couple of rabbit warrens - set up in business supplying fresh organic free range rabbit meat to local pubs, restaurants and game dealers.

On a serious note where abouts? If near us I'll gladly put some sheep on there for you in return for meat/cash. Could do a few kid goats too from the local goat dairy if you fancy a bit of goat meat?

Mmmmmm, meat... I'm well up for some of that action, it's near Dundee if that's any use!

I'm going to pop round to the local farmer and see if he knows of anyone needing any grazing for sheep. I spoke to someone in a similar situation yesterday and they reckoned hay in the summer/sheep grazing in the winter was the way forward. They had tried horses for a bit and experience was as mentioned in this thread - the ground got ruined and there was a lot of mess.

If that doesn't lead me anywhere it's a flattrack nudist wakeboard trampoline cult for up to 5 caravanners.

@RustySpanner - 'A killing zone' Almost choked laughing! 😆

Poplars. Take seconds to plant* and you'll have an impressive wood in 5 years.

* multiplied by about 10,000

Some seating around it and you could set up your own Running Man events

Who loves you and who do you love?

pet cemetery

If that doesn't lead me anywhere it's a flattrack nudist wakeboard trampoline cult for up to 5 caravanners.

that's a bit youn...... oh, you mean five caravaners.