TRANSFORMING AGRICULTURALLY USED AREA TO FREE TIME AREA IN POLAND?

I have an urgend question! I hope someone knows the REAL ANSWER!
Thank you very much for helping me!

- IS IT POSSIBLE TO TRANSFORM/CHANGE/CONVERT A BIG AGRICULTURALLY USED AREA (ABOUT 5 HA)
TO A FREE TIME AREA (LIKE A BIG PARK WITH MANY TREES A.S.O. IN POLAND)?
- WHICH ADMINISTRATION/OFFICE IS THE RIGHT ONE FOR THIS INTENTION?

first you need to visit the 'gminia' (gemeinde) that the land is situated in - you have to check if they have something called 'plan zagospodarowania przestrzennego' which is sort of developement plan - if they have such a plan then if the land in question is devoted to some particular use in the future (like housing developement, transport infrastructure, landfill etc) you won't be able to change the current use of it (like planting a park)

if the land in question does not have any particular purpose in their plans and the soil is low class they will let you do quite a lot with the land including building a house (but there must be a public road that connects to it - also you need to officially become a farmer in Poland - a farmer in Poland has an official status and it's not enough to buy land to become a farmer (for a Polish person - if you have some agriculture background from Germany including horticulture, even raising animals you can eventually become a farmer in Poland) - aha - when we're at it - AFAIK farming land will not be freely accessible to foreigners until 2016 - you need to obtain an official consent from Ministry of Agriculture at the moment to buy farming land (and you should expect that they will expect that you create some workplaces in your newly bought farm) - anyway expect a lot of beaurocracy


and afterthought - if the thing will be supposed to be a commercial enterprise I think you actually would have to eventually 'de-farm' the land i.e. change it's official use/status - I'm not really familiar with the procedure but if the soil on this land is low quality (low class 5 and 6 are really low class 4 is borderline) then there will be much less problem with 'de-farming' it - I said eventually 'de-farm' because I think it can be plausible to start out without 'de-farming' and planting an official 'tree plantation' on the land (this does not require you to change the official status of the land i.e. 'de-farming') - some minor landscaping on such a tree plantation is plausible but if you planned something bigger (a pond, some bigger artificial hills) you would need some official consents to it - a lot would depend on your relations with the decidents in the area (you would need to let yourself known, attend and throw some parties - you know socialize with the right people)

And since the concept of a restrictive covenant doesn't exist here, there's nothing to stop someone from turning it back into farmland or building on it later, providing they get a change of use permit.

In order for people to assist fully, you need to let your plan known. Firstly trees take quite a few years to grow, would your idea be a commercial venture or do you wish to give something back to the community or is it for a private residence. Furthermore 5 hectare would not be large for a park. The location of the land is very important. also if you start informing people of your commercial intentions before purchasing the land the price will go up. It may be better to find a local partner and lease the land.

Gumishu - do they make plans like this without the consent of the property owner?

Say for instance, I own a big farm of 20ha on the edge of a village. Can they decide that in the future, it will become a landfill site, some houses and a new high school without my knowledge/permission?

no - I don't think so (but to be honest I'm not the best informed person on the subject)- but if a terrain is cultivated at the moment it doesn't mean it is classified as farming land in the developement plans (there already may be investments or housing developement planned on the land) - another thing is not every gmina has the 'plan zagospodarowania przestrzennego' (plan for the use of land) (many rural gminas (communities) don't have it)

ok - I reasearched the topic a bit more - and yes such decisions are often made with no respect to the will of the current owners - agricultural land can be transfered into housing area category (and you will have to pay a fee for the increase of the value of your land to the gmina) - it also happens with inftrastructure and in case the infrustructure is on-ground (not dug in) you will be asked to sell the property to gmina (prices offered won't match market prices because :) if you don't sell it they will take it from you (expriopration - wywłaszczenie) for compensation (which will typically be quite low compared to the market prices) - so it is best to have a look at 'plan zagospodarowania przestrzennego' in your given gmina before you buy a property

Thank you for the recent information,
here some more info to our situation: the most of the ground is actually private garden, the place where the house and stall stands,
a bigger lake, some ground with wild trees and not yet grassland.
We dont need the grassland for animals (like cows), so we want to give back something for the nature and plant trees, so we want

to have a mini-forrest or park for our private use.
The ground is at the end of a village!

Greetings Charly

I missed this before - but thank you!

Maybe we should make a thread containing useful information about Poland that isn't written in English anywhere online? This is certainly one of the most useful things to know!