Barn Conversion, West Sussex

A nine-acre former dairy farm near Petworth — restored to a clean, planning-ready site. The kind of remediation work most developers walk away from.

Barn Conversion — known historically as Tanland Farm — is a nine-acre former dairy farm in Northchapel, West Sussex, near Petworth. The site presented a particular challenge that had deterred multiple previous prospective purchasers. Of the nine acres, two were covered in twelve-inch-thick reinforced concrete and ageing dairy buildings, much of which contained asbestos. A further two acres were occupied by a disused silage pit, in poor condition.

Planning permission for the eventual conversion of the surviving timber barns to residential accommodation was conditional on a clear and demanding pre-condition: the dairy buildings and hard landscaping had to be demolished, and the silage pit had to be properly restored, before any residential conversion could begin. YayYay acquired the site, completed the restoration phase, and sold on to a downstream developer to carry through the residential element.

Asbestos & Environment Agency Engagement

The combination of asbestos-containing dairy buildings and a substantial silage pit requiring controlled infill placed the project firmly within the remit of the Environment Agency. YayYay engaged with the regulator throughout: appropriate notifications, controlled removal and disposal of asbestos-containing materials, supervised demolition, and a properly engineered specification for the silage pit infill that satisfied the agency's environmental protection requirements. None of this is glamorous work — but it is precisely the kind of compliance-heavy remediation that determines whether a difficult site ever becomes developable at all.

Crushing Concrete on Site

Two acres of foot-thick reinforced concrete generates an enormous volume of material — far too much to economically transport off site as a single waste stream. YYahYay's solution was to bring in a tracked mobile crusher and process the broken concrete on site, recovering it as graded aggregate suitable for re-use within the site's own ground works and infill operations. The approach materially reduced both the cost and the environmental impact of the demolition phase, and removed the lorry traffic that would otherwise have dominated the surrounding country lanes for weeks.

Reclaimed Heritage Materials

Where the demolition encountered original materials of value — most notably the period clay roof tiles from the older dairy buildings — these were carefully recovered, hand-stacked in pyramidal piles across the site, and re-laid on the surviving timber barns as part of the heritage roof restoration works. The reclaimed-tile roof is one of the project's most distinctive features and ensures the rural character of the surviving barns is preserved for the eventual residential conversion.

A Different Kind of Project

This project sits in a different category from YayYay's residential and commercial work. The deliverable was not a finished home or office — it was a planning-clean, environmentally restored, ready-to-develop site. On completion of the restoration works the site was sold on. It demonstrates a capacity for the heavier, less photogenic end of the development cycle: the kind of remediation that other developers shy away from and that makes complicated land deliverable in the first place.

Scope of Works

Acquisition of nine-acre former dairy farm with planning consent for residential conversion conditional on prior restoration; Environment Agency engagement throughout; controlled removal and disposal of asbestos-containing materials; demolition of two acres of dairy buildings and twelve-inch-thick reinforced concrete hard standing; on-site concrete crushing for re-use as recovered aggregate; controlled infill and proper restoration of two-acre silage pit; recovery and re-laying of period clay roof tiles on surviving timber barns; sale of restored, planning-ready site to downstream developer.