Building large-scale sculptures on private land?

19 October 2020
by Pamela

Hello Build It community! My husband and I are both sculptors and we're rather bored of simply making work to sell. We've been discussing a new venture for years to build a community driven sculpture garden. Our plan is to buy a small plot of land (ideally a combination of woodland and open field) of about 5 to 10 acres and start constructing large-scale sculptures on site.
Assuming there is no restrictive covenant in place on the land we purchase, is planning permission required for large pieces of art on private land? Any advice or information you can offer would be very much appreciated! Thank you.

One Answer

  1. Mike Dade says:

    A sculpture garden would represent a change of use of the land, requiring planning permission. Whether individual pieces would also require permission would depend on their degree of attachment to the land and their permanence. Given that this would be quite an unusual, though not unprecedented, proposal, it would be sensible to get pre-application advice from the council before purchasing a site, to ensure permission would be forthcoming.

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