A Sevenoaks grey belt appeal has ended with a three-year personal permission for a traveller site after the August 2026 National Planning Policy Framework changed the way grey belt is defined.
Inspector T C King accepted that land at West Kingsdown could now be classed as grey belt even though it lies within the Kent Downs National Landscape and close to Ancient Woodland. But he was equally clear that the new label did not sweep those environmental protections aside.
The enforcement appeal concerned the unauthorised residential use of former agricultural land for one mobile home and one touring caravan, together with extra hardstanding, fencing, two brick pillars and a cesspit. Sevenoaks District Council had required the residential use to cease and the works to be removed.
Why the Sevenoaks grey belt appeal changed under the new NPPF
This is where the decision becomes particularly interesting.
The December 2024 NPPF definition of grey belt was accompanied by an exclusion for land where policies protecting specified assets gave a strong reason to refuse or restrict development. Inspector King noted that those assets included National Landscapes and Ancient Woodland.
That exclusion disappeared when the Government published the replacement National Planning Policy Framework on 17th August 2026.
The current definition now describes grey belt as previously developed land, or other Green Belt land, which does not strongly contribute to purposes (a), (b) or (d) of policy GB2. There is no longer a separate asset-based exclusion from the grey-belt definition.
Sevenoaks accepted that the appeal site met the revised definition and Inspector King agreed.
That finding matters, but it was not a planning free pass. In the appeal decision, he said the change “does not, of course, mean” that residential or traveller development on grey belt with additional designations is automatically acceptable.
His explanation is the practical point. Grey-belt classification is now about the land’s contribution to specified Green Belt purposes. Separate policies protecting National Landscapes, Ancient Woodland and other assets still have to be applied to the development itself.
Our guide to grey belt, Green Belt, greenfield and brownfield land explains the wider distinction.
General housing would still have failed the GB7 test
The current NPPF policy GB7 says development on grey belt can avoid being treated as inappropriate Green Belt development only where all the relevant tests are met.
Here there was an evidenced need. Sevenoaks’ 2025 Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment identified a minimum need for 192 additional pitches to 2042/43, including 115 in the first five years. The Inspector described the current position as a “substantial level of unmet need” and gave that significant weight.
The location was harder.
The site is reached along narrow country lanes, West Kingsdown has only a limited range of services and the nearest railway station is more than three miles away. Inspector King said ordinary residential development would not have satisfied GB7’s sustainability requirement.
Traveller policy HO12 changed the assessment. It recognises that some traveller sites may be appropriate in locations not well related to settlements and says decision-makers should consider local provision, need and relevant personal circumstances.
The Inspector therefore applied some flexibility because this was a traveller proposal rather than general housing.
Planning Geek’s guide to Gypsy and Traveller sites covers the planning framework in more detail.
Grey belt did not cancel the landscape or woodland harm
The site lies within the Kent Downs National Landscape. Inspector King found conflict with local landscape policies, describing the additional hardstanding as unsightly and noting the need to control lighting in a tranquil landscape where dark skies matter.
Ancient Woodland lies across St Clere Hill Road. Natural England and Forestry Commission standing advice recommends at least a 15 metre buffer from Ancient Woodland, and part of the road and appeal site falls inside that distance.
The appellant produced a specialist assessment which argued that the road structure would largely have stopped roots reaching the appeal land and that significant excavation had not taken place. The council’s arboricultural officer took a more cautious view because there was no baseline assessment before the works were carried out.
Inspector King did not treat development within a 15 metre buffer as automatically harmful. Instead, he required a more detailed retrospective Ancient Woodland Impact Assessment and, if damage is found, a remediation scheme.
That neatly illustrates the limit of the grey-belt finding. The land could be grey belt, while the development could still conflict with policies protecting the Kent Downs National Landscape and Ancient Woodland.
Family circumstances tipped the balance towards three years
The site was occupied by the appellant, his partner and their recently born baby. The Inspector considered the family’s local connections, Article 8 rights, the Public Sector Equality Duty and the best interests of the child.
He also placed the unauthorised nature of the development firmly on the other side of the balance. The current NPPF says intentional unauthorised development should be given substantial weight when retrospective permission is being considered, including through an enforcement appeal.
No proper explanation had been given for moving onto the land without permission beyond the family having nowhere else to live. Inspector King also noted that the unauthorised works had created potential issues close to Ancient Woodland.
Even with those factors, he concluded that a roadside existence would be unsuitable for a family with a young baby, while Sevenoaks was working through an emerging Local Plan strategy intended to meet traveller need.
That combination was enough for a temporary solution, not a permanent unrestricted permission.
What the temporary permission allows
The enforcement notice was quashed and planning permission granted for three years from 28th September 2026, or until the named family leaves if that happens sooner.
The permission is personal to Miles Moorehouse, his wife or partner and their resident dependants. It limits the site to one mobile home and one touring caravan on a single pitch.
Conditions also control external lighting, foul drainage, contamination, landscaping, commercial activity and vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. An Ancient Woodland Impact Assessment and Remediation Scheme must be submitted within three months.
At the end of the temporary period, the residential use must cease unless a further permission is obtained, and the caravans, structures, materials and associated works must be removed with the land restored.
Inspector King indicated that a later application to extend the occupation would not necessarily be ruled out if the restorative conditions are complied with, although he also hoped better-located sites might be available by then.
For practitioners, the Sevenoaks grey belt appeal is a useful early example of the August 2026 NPPF in action. Grey belt can now include Green Belt land affected by constraints that would previously have excluded it from the definition, but the underlying environmental protections have not disappeared. The classification question and the acceptability of the development remain two separate exercises.
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