Local knowledge matters
Driveway Gates
Across Kent
Planning rules, ground and weather change from one council to the next. Find your area to see what applies to a gate where you live.
Find your area
Find your area
Choose a town for local gate advice.
Sevenoaks District
Local gate rules
Most of the district is Green Belt and much of it National Landscape. Kemsing has an Article 4 direction on gates and walls.
Tunbridge Wells Borough
Local gate rules
High Weald and Green Belt cover about three quarters of the borough. Listed stone walls on Calverley Road; a new Local Plan adopted in December 2025.
Tonbridge and Malling Borough
Local gate rules
About 71% Green Belt, with the Medway floodplain running through Tonbridge, Aylesford and Snodland.
Maidstone Borough
Local gate rules
Ragstone walls, steep drives under the Kent Downs, village Article 4 directions, and large new estates at Heathlands and Lidsing.
Dartford Borough
Local gate rules
Article 4 directions on gates and walls at West Hill and Greenhithe, and fast growth around Ebbsfleet.
Gravesham Borough
Local gate rules
Thirteen conservation areas where new gates, walls and hard surfaces need planning permission.
Medway Council
Local gate rules
A unitary authority that runs its own planning and highways, with Article 4 streets controlling boundary gates.
Canterbury City
Local gate rules
Nearly 100 conservation areas across the district, from the city’s Article 4 streets to the Whitstable and Herne Bay seafronts.
Swale Borough
Local gate rules
An Article 4 direction across the Faversham Conservation Area brings front gates under planning control.
Ashford Borough
Local gate rules
Article 4 directions written specifically for gates and fences, and Kent Downs farmhouses at Wye and Challock.
Folkestone and Hythe District
Local gate rules
Channel salt air on the seafront and landslips on The Leas and in Sandgate since 2023.
Dover District
Local gate rules
Article 4 controls on gates in Deal’s Middle Street, Sandwich’s walled town and Dover’s Dour Street.
Thanet District
Local gate rules
Sea on three sides, Article 4 controls on front gardens in Ramsgate, and one of Kent’s densest clusters of listed buildings.
Kent's 13 Councils
and Their Gate Rules
Kent has 12 district councils plus Medway, and each sets its own policy on conservation areas, Article 4 directions and front boundaries. Kent County Council handles dropped kerbs everywhere except Medway, which runs its own highways.
Before you begin