Driveway Gates in Faversham

Swale Borough Council's Article 4 direction for the Faversham Conservation Area, in force since 29 May 2007, removes a range of householder permitted development rights (planning data register). Among them is the right to put up or alter gates, fences and walls, and the right to demolish any gate, fence, wall or other means of enclosure. In plain terms, a new or replacement front gate, wall or railing on a house in the conservation area needs planning permission.

Two Faversham conservation areas were expanded in May 2024 under the council's heritage strategy, so a house that was outside the boundary a few years ago may now be inside it. Check the current map before assuming you are clear.

A householder application for a gate is not complicated. You need a location plan, drawings of the gate and piers in elevation, a short description of materials and colour, and the application fee. Many installers who work in the town will prepare the drawings; ask whether that is included in the quote.

Around 380 listed buildings stand within a few kilometres of the town, one of the highest concentrations in Kent, and the historic streets of Abbey Street, West Street and Court Street are lined with them. On a listed house, gates need listed building consent as well as planning permission.

The council takes the detail seriously. In 2017 it permitted replacement entrance gates and paving at 94 Abbey Street (17/501310/FULL, with listed building consent 17/501311/LBC), with the approval tied to a drawing of the gate design. In 2016 a new brick pier, wall and entrance gates at Wreights Cottage on The Mall went through listed building consent. For a Faversham townhouse, plan on hand-made painted metal or timber gates drawn to scale and approved before fabrication.

Beyond the town conservation area, Preston-next-Faversham, south of the station, and Ospringe, on the A2 with listed buildings along Water Lane, have conservation areas of their own, as do Syndale and Whitehill. In these, the normal permitted development limits apply unless a direction says otherwise, but the council will still expect a design that suits the village street. South of the A2, the Kent Downs National Landscape begins.

Faversham is built on chalk, but along Faversham Creek the ground is beach and tidal-flat deposits of clay, silt and sand. The flood risk picture changes sharply between the two. The national flood-risk mapping shows extensive flood zones along the creek and across the Oare and Ham marshes, many times more than an inland Weald town like Cranbrook.

For a gate near the creek, check the Environment Agency flood map before trenching for cables. In a flood zone, keep the control box high on a pier, avoid underground motor chambers, and use sealed connectors. On chalk higher up the town, foundations are straightforward and drainage is rarely a problem.

The creek opens onto the Swale estuary, and homes around Oare, Ham Road and the creek basin get damp, slightly salty air. It is gentler than the open coast at Whitstable, but plain painted steel still rusts faster here than inland. Galvanising under the powder coat, or aluminium, with stainless fixings is the safer specification for creekside gates.

Faversham Lakes, on the former Oare mineral workings off Ham Road, is being built in phases: 113 homes in the first, then 106 and 111 in later phases. The council approved boundary treatments and Secured by Design details phase by phase, so front gardens there follow an agreed plan. Check the deeds and the conditions before adding a gate.

South-east of the town, Swale councillors voted in 2026 to approve the Duchy of Cornwall's scheme for up to 2,500 homes near Brenley Corner, between the M2 and the A2, with detailed consent for the first 261 homes and building expected from 2027. As with Faversham Lakes, the estate design will set the rules for front boundaries.

The orchard country around Faversham is full of older farmhouses and newer infill. At Boughton under Blean, a new house was approved with sliding entrance gates behind Horselees Road (21/501427/FULL). At Hernhill, entrance gates were repositioned at Forge Orchard on Staple Street. At Throwley, a listed farm sought estate railings and entrance gates under listed building consent. Timber field gates suit most of these lanes; estate railings suit the larger farmhouses.

In August 2026 Kent Police appealed after three vehicles were targeted overnight in Springhead Road, Blaxland Close and Whiting Crescent, and the same month the Rural Task Force arrested a suspect after a farm building burglary where a wire fence had been cut. A locked, automated gate with a camera intercom slows vehicles leaving and records them; on farms, pair it with secure storage for tools and machinery.

Kent County Council is the highway authority and handles dropped kerbs. A new access onto a classified road such as the A2 or A251 also needs planning permission. Gates on a roadside boundary must open inwards or slide, because the highway authority can require any gate that opens outwards over the road to be altered.