Farm Planning Consultants in Kent

Growing your business in the Garden of England

Kent farmers grow fruit, hops, vines and cereals, and many run packhouses, cold stores or seasonal worker accommodation alongside. You may need a new cold store, polytunnels, a winery or a fresh use for an oast or barn. A farm planning consultant in Kent helps you secure the permission to make it happen.

The obstacles in the way

The Kent Downs and High Weald National Landscapes cover large parts of the county, west Kent is largely Green Belt and the marshes bring flood risk. In parts of east Kent, nutrient rules linked to the Stour have also held up development. Growers find that even essential buildings get caught up in long delays, repeated information requests and refusals that ignore the realities of modern fruit and vine production.

Planning help built for Kent farms

We understand how damaging a slow decision is when a crop will not wait. Foxes Rural works only for farmers, growers and landowners. We know agricultural permitted development, Class Q, Class R and full planning, and how to argue the case for horticultural buildings in protected landscapes and the Green Belt. Our approval rate is 95%.

3 steps from idea to approval

1. Call 01206 481981. Tell us what your farm or growing business needs.
2. We set the strategy. We weigh the landscape, Green Belt, flood and nutrient issues and choose the best route.
3. We deal with the council. We submit, negotiate and respond until you have a decision.

Kent districts we cover

• Ashford
• Canterbury
• Maidstone
• Swale
• Tunbridge Wells
• Tonbridge and Malling
• Sevenoaks
• Dover and Folkestone and Hythe
• Thanet, Dartford, Gravesham and Medway
• The Kent Downs and High Weald National Landscapes
• Romney Marsh

We help farms near Ashford, Canterbury, Maidstone, Faversham, Sittingbourne, Tenterden, Cranbrook, Headcorn, Marden, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Sandwich and Hythe, and we know the farming community that gathers at Detling each July for the Kent County Show.

The growers behind Kent's reputation

Kent is home to some of the biggest names in British fruit and wine. Chapel Down near Tenterden and Gusbourne near Appledore lead the English wine industry, AC Goatham and Son is one of the country's major apple and pear growers and Hugh Lowe Farms at Mereworth supplies berries to supermarkets nationwide. Their success depended on packhouses, stores and wineries with planning consent. Yours can too.

Specialist planning advice

Kent landowners often use firms such as BTF Partnership, George Webb Finn, Strutt & Parker, Savills and Lambert & Foster. We stand apart by focusing purely on farm planning, so a Kent grower's application gets specialist attention throughout.

When planning goes wrong

A refused cold store or an enforcement notice on polytunnels can cost a season's crop and a great deal of money. In a busy county like Kent, waiting only adds pressure.

Picture the finished farm

Think of new stores and packhouses working at harvest, a winery or converted oast earning income and a business ready to grow. Call Foxes Rural on 01206 481981 to get started.