Council warning on Green Belt land sales

Potential purchasers of Green Belt land for housing are being warned such sites are very unlikely to be granted planning permission.

Sevenoaks District Council is aware of sites being offered for sale as individual plots. They are in Edenbridge (Hever Road) and West Kingsdown (St Clere Hill Road).

To ensure these sites continue to be protected, the Council has served 'Article 4 Directions’ restricting the activities that can normally be carried out without planning permission. This includes putting up fences, gates or walls, stationing caravans and other temporary uses.

Nationally, all Green Belt sites are protected by policies, which aim to prevent development by keeping the land permanently open. Because of this, they are extremely unlikely to be granted planning permission to be developed.

Cllr Julia Thornton, the Council’s Cabinet member for planning, says: "We're concerned that unsuspecting people will buy plots of land thinking they could be developed for housing. These Green Belt sites are protected and any proposal to build on them is extremely unlikely to be granted planning permission."

Anyone who is considering buying a plot of land should check its planning status first. They can do this on the Council’s interactive planning map at https://maps.sevenoaks.gov.uk/planning

Alternatively they can seek advice from the Council’s Pre-Application Planning Advice team www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/preapplicationadvice or call 01732 227000