Using a field for camping through the summer

You can use a field for camping for up to 28 days in a calendar year without planning permission, under Class B of Schedule 2 Part 4 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015, and that allowance does not extend to caravans or motorhomes. Class B is expressly unavailable where the use of the land is as a caravan site. So a temporary campsite for tents sits inside permitted development, while the same field taking campervans does not.

The allowance has been temporarily varied in the past, so check the current text of the Order before planning a season around a number.

The 28 day temporary use and what it covers

Class B permits the use of land for any purpose for not more than 28 days in total in any calendar year, together with the provision on the land of any moveable structure for that use. Tents, a marquee, portable toilets and a temporary shower unit are moveable structures. A block-built toilet building is not, and erecting one is a building operation needing permission in its own right.

The limits that catch people:

1. The days are cumulative across the whole calendar year and across all temporary uses of that land, so a weekend event in May eats into the camping allowance.
2. Class B does not apply to a building or to land within the curtilage of a building, which affects a paddock attached to a farmhouse.
3. It does not apply where the use is as a caravan site, so campervans, touring caravans and motorhomes are outside it.
4. On a site of special scientific interest, several uses are excluded altogether.
5. An Article 4 direction can remove the right, and a few authorities have made directions covering temporary uses in sensitive landscapes.

Keep a dated record of the days used. Enforcement cases on the 28-day rule turn on evidence of the number of days, and a booking diary is the evidence.

Caravan site licensing and the exemptions

Where caravans or motorhomes are involved, two regimes apply. Planning permission for use as a caravan site, and a site licence under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960.

The 1960 Act's First Schedule contains exemptions, including limited use incidental to a dwelling, short stays by a single caravan, small numbers of caravans on larger areas for limited periods, and sites certified by exempted organisations. The conditions attached to each exemption are specific, and relying on one without reading it is how operators end up prosecuted. Ask the council's licensing team which exemption they consider applies, in writing.

And tents are outside the caravan licensing regime. Some councils operate a separate licensing power over camping sites and moveable dwellings under public health legislation, so ask about that too. Licensing and planning are separate, and satisfying one does not satisfy the other.

Facilities, drainage and potable water

A field with no services is the usual starting point, and the facilities question decides whether the operation is viable.

Portable toilets serviced by tanker are the simplest route for a short season, with a contract in place before opening. A permanent solution means either a connection to a public sewer, which is rarely available, or a septic tank or package treatment plant. Discharges to ground or to surface water are controlled by the Environment Agency, either under the general binding rules or under a permit, and the rules depend on the volume and the receiving environment.

Potable water needs a supply that meets drinking water standards, which for a private supply means testing and registration with the council's environmental health team. Grey water and washing-up water need somewhere to go that is not a hedge.

Waste and recycling storage, and a collection arrangement that works in August, complete the picture. None of this needs planning permission for a 28-day use, and all of it needs organising.

Access, parking and rural highway capacity

A field gate designed for a tractor twice a week behaves differently when 30 cars use it on a Friday evening. The highway authority looks at visibility in both directions, the width of the access, whether vehicles can enter without stopping on the carriageway, and whether the lane has passing places.

Forming a new access, or widening an existing one, onto a classified road needs planning permission. Surfacing the first few metres to stop mud being carried onto the road is often required by condition, and it is worth doing anyway.

Parking on the field is usually acceptable in dry weather and a problem in a wet August. Show where cars go, how the area is stabilised, and what happens when the ground is saturated. A Transport Statement is the document that covers this for a permanent application.

Landscape effects and reinstatement

In a National Landscape or National Park, the visual effect of tents, vehicles and facilities is the main issue, and it is seasonal rather than permanent. That cuts both ways: the effect is temporary, and the season coincides with the period of highest landscape sensitivity.

What helps an application is evidence rather than assertion. Views from public rights of way and the nearest road, at the time of year the use happens. A layout that keeps pitches off skylines and behind existing hedgerows. Muted colours for permanent structures. Minimal external lighting, which matters most in dark sky areas where any lighting is conspicuous.

Reinstatement is the other half. Say what happens to the field between seasons, whether it returns to grazing or mowing, and how compaction and wear are managed. A Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment is proportionate for a larger or more sensitive proposal.

Noise, fires and the neighbour relationship

Complaints, not policy, are what usually ends a campsite. The recurring sources are amplified music, generators, arrivals after dark, dogs and smoke from fire pits.

Set rules before you open and publish them: quiet hours, no amplified music, fire pits in fixed positions and off the ground, no arrivals after a stated time. Then give the nearest neighbours a phone number. A campsite with a responsive operator and written rules attracts far fewer objections when a permanent application follows.

Amplified music and the sale of alcohol engage licensing separately, and a temporary event notice is the usual route for a one-off.

Applying for a longer season

For anything beyond 28 days, or for caravans and motorhomes, apply for planning permission for a change of use. Most permissions for rural campsites are conditioned: a season, a maximum number of pitches, a limit on unit type, a requirement that pitches be removed outside the season, and a landscape scheme.

The submission that works usually includes a Planning Statement setting out the rural diversification case and the policy support for tourism in the countryside, a site layout with pitch numbers and the facilities building, a transport and access plan, foul drainage details supported by a Foul Sewage Assessment where a treatment plant is proposed, an ecology appraisal covering hedgerows, trees and any protected species, and a management plan carrying the rules you have already been operating.

Ask for a temporary permission if the authority is hesitant. Three years of operation with no complaints is the best evidence for a permanent consent, and it is easier to obtain than an argument in the abstract.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it, and note that a lawful development certificate is the only formal way to confirm that works or uses are lawful. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.