Land for sale

SITUATION
Waterside Farm is an attractive mixed arable and dairy unit situated in a desirable location within Central Scotland, a short distance to the north of the popular towns of Dunblane and Bridge of Allan and about 10 miles north of the City of Stirling.

The picturesque Cathedral town of Dunblane is a popular residential town with a quaint main shopping street which offers an excellent range of local amenities with a very good selection of independent shops supplemented by a Tesco Supermarket and Marks & Spencer Food Hall. There are a number of chic riverbank restaurants and cafes and the highly regarded Cromlix House Hotel, a luxury hotel with a fantastic restaurant, owned by Andy Murray. Bridge of Allan is one of Central Scotland’s hidden gems, and this historic spa town has a thriving main street with a good range of independent shops, cafés and restaurants.

Dunblane has a number of well-regarded nurseries and a primary school, with secondary schooling provided at Dunblane High School which is one of the top ranking state schools in Scotland. Private schools in the area include Dollar Academy and Morrisons Academy (30 minute bus journey from Dunblane) and Ardvreck Preparatory School both in Crieff, with a further range of independent schools closer to Perth including Kilgraston (girls only), Strathallan and Glenalmond all within half an hour’s drive from the property.

A short distance to the south of the property lies the City of Stirling, home to cliff top Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument which both rise high above the centre and are a tribute to the City’s historic past. Stirling town centre provides an extensive range of shops, restaurants, leisure facilities and all major business and retail services including Waitrose and several other superstores.

Waterside is well placed for rail connections via stations at both Dunblane and Bridge of Allan which connect to all the major towns of Central Scotland and mainlines both to the South and the North. The farm benefits from excellent road connections onto A9 which is only about 2 miles to the south west providing swift access to Perth and the North, and connections to Edinburgh and Glasgow via M9 and M80. Both Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports are within about an hour’s drive away and provide an array of domestic and international flights.

The historic counties of Stirlingshire and nearby Perthshire are renowned for offering a diverse range of outdoor activities. There are numerous routes throughout the surrounding hills and glens for walkers and cyclists, and there is an abundance of estates in the local area offering fishing, shooting and stalking. Dunblane and Bridge of Allan offer numerous sporting facilities including golf courses and tennis clubs, with 3 championship courses available at nearby Gleneagles Hotel. Stirling University is the home of sporting excellence in Scotland and on the outskirts of Bridge of Allan, offering many first class sporting facilities which are open to the public, including a near Olympic size swimming pool. Agriculturally the surrounding areas of Stirling and Perthshire are very accessible and provide a combination of productive pasture and arable ground with rolling hills in the distance. Stirling provides 2 renowned livestock markets, and Carlisle Mart is just under 2 hours drive via the M74 and is an excellent outlet for dairy and breeding stock. The area is well served by a wide variety of merchants and suppliers, and there are a number of locally based agricultural contractors who can provide additional farming resources as required. The present milk purchaser is Graham’s The Family Dairy based in nearby Bridge of Allan.

METHOD OF SALE
Waterside Farm is offered for sale as a whole.

FARMING HISTORY
The Sellers have owned Waterside Farm since 1997, with the farming system originally centred on a mixed dairy and arable enterprise, with cereals and temporary grassland grown as part of the rotation, with almost every enclosure having been used for arable cropping, including wheat, barley and oil seed rape grown during the current owner’s tenure. From 2019 a significant programme of investment in the holding was undertaken including building of a new parlour shed, two new silage pits and more recently the addition of a covered 1 million gallon slurry lagoon to the west of the farm steading. The recent investment has collectively allowed the housing capacity on the farm to increase to around 190 cows plus followers. The land has also benefitted from an ongoing programme of drainage and reseeding work, along with regular applications of lime, farmyard manure and slurry generated from the dairy.

The creation of just over half of a mile of cow tracks has lengthened the grazing season, allowing for the cows to be turned out to grass as early as mid-March. The current farming system is centred on an existing contract farming agreement which comes to an end on 31 August 2024, which is based on around 190 autumn calving milking cows plus followers.

DESCRIPTION
Waterside Farm comprises a versatile and productive mixed arable and dairy unit, equipped with a spacious 4 bedroom traditional farmhouse, an excellent range of modern farm buildings and area of farmland which extends to approximately 112.78 Ha (278.68 Acres) in total including roads, yards and buildings. The farmhouse and farm steading are located to the north of holding adjacent to the minor public road which splits the holding in two and provides an excellent level of vehicle access to almost every enclosure.

Farmhouse
The farmhouse is situated to the south of the modern farm buildings and is south facing and of traditional stone and block construction, under a pitched slate roof. Internally the farmhouse offers generously proportioned accommodation over two floors, including large Kitchen/Family Room, Sitting/Dining Room, Utility Room, Wet Room and Sun Room on the ground floor, with 4 Bedrooms and a Bathroom on the first floor. The accommodation and room dimensions are set out in more detail within the floor plans contained in the particulars.

Garden Ground
The farmhouse benefits from a large and well cared for area of garden ground, which surrounds the property to the front and is mostly laid to lawn with a mix of shrubs and mature borders and number of mature trees providing shelter and privacy. There is a patio area adjacent to the sun room which is perfect for alfresco dining and making the very best of the morning and evening sun. The farmhouse is accessed from the separate front gate which leads from the public road onto a large gravel driveway providing parking for a number of vehicles.

FARM BUILDINGS
Waterside Farm is well equipped with a useful and adaptable range of modern farm buildings which are located to just the north of the farmhouse and benefit from access via three separate entry points onto the public road. They comprise:

Modern Parlour Shed (27.6m x 9.52m) of steel portal frame construction under a fibre cement roof with part concrete panel walls and box profile side cladding with a concrete floor. The building currently contains a 16/32 swing over Waikato parlour which was installed in 2019 with in parlour feed system, and an adjacent collecting yard, drafting pen and handling area.

Cubicle Shed (49.86m x 23.16m) of concrete frame construction under a corrugated roof with steel doors to both ends, fitted with 132 cubicles and a central feed passage and automatic scrapers. Including the former parlour area and currently housing a 5000 litre bulk tank, small office space and pump house.

Atcost General Purpose Shed (32.25m x 20.34m) 7 bay shed of concrete frame construction under a corrugated roof with block walls and a concrete floor, part divided by a concrete feed bunker into 47 cubicles and a straw bedded court for a further 25 cows.

Cattle Handling Shed (36.0m x 3.20m) two holding pens and race with catching crate.

Former Silage Shed (32.25m x 11.23m) of concrete frame construction, under a corrugated roof, with concrete floor, timber sleeper walls and the building is currently used as a calf rearing shed. Includes a 3 tonne timber feed bin.

Mono Pitched Shed (13.79 m x 9.39m) of timber frame construction under a box profile roof with side cladding and a concrete and hard standing floor.

Slurry Reception Pit & Permastore Tower, located to the north of buildings, there is a concrete reception with pump which leads into a Permastore Tower which provides approximately 120,000 gallons of slurry storage. The reception also pumps to either of the Permastore, or the larger slurry lagoon located to the west of the farm steading.

Slurry Lagoon
Located a short distance to the west of the main building complex, there is a 1 million gallon covered slurry lagoon which was constructed in the summer of 2022. The lagoon has earth bank walls, associated mixing pipework, and is enclosed by 6ft high deer fencing.

Silage Pits
Located on the opposite side of the minor public road from the farm steading, there are two adjoining silage pits with a concrete panel wall along the middle and earth bank walls on three sides. Each pit has an approximate capacity for 1000 tonnes and there is also a 30,000L effluent tank which benefits from connection to a field irrigation system via flow pump which is operated by a generator.

Yard/Containers/Feed Bins
In addition to the buildings there are 2 steel containers which are used as a secure workshop and storage, a Portacabin used as an office and 14 tonne and 18 tonne Collinson feed bins. The buildings are served by a large yard providing additional storage space for fodder and machinery.

FARMLAND
The farmland at Waterside Farm extends to approximately 112.78 Ha (278.68 Acres) in total and lying either side of Auchinlay Road. The land has been classified by The James Hutton Institute as being Grade 3.2 with a very small area of Grade 5.3 to the north east of the farm. The land is currently utilised for fodder production and grazing ground and has been well maintained with an annual regime of re-seeding, and regular application of slurry and lime, with almost every field having grown cereals historically.

The land is generally of a southerly aspect, rising overall from approximately 91m above sea level at its lowest point near the Allan Water at its south east point to 130m above sea level at its highest point to the north west of the holding. The fields are of a good practical size for use by modern machinery and are well laid out and benefit from an excellent level of field gate access onto the public road or via a network of farm tracks. There is also a useful number of cow tracks which have been constructed of hard standing with an astroturf surface, giving grazing access to the majority of the farm. The majority of the enclosures benefit from mains powered electric fencing allowing for an effective paddock grazing system to be employed on the holding, which has extended the grazing period from March until October. A network of areas of amenity woodland, hedging, and the creation of some small ponds has been undertaken by the current owners, which has greatly improved the level of shelter, amenity and biodiversity on the holding. All of the fields benefit from either access to private water supply via a bore hole or natural source supplies, apart from field 1 which is supplied by a mains fed water trough.

EPC Rating = F