I have worked on a project in the borough of Gravesham, an open plan kitchen and diner extension near Dartford.
Gravesham covers Gravesend and Northfleet on the Thames as well as a stretch of rural Kent, so the way the council looks at a proposal depends a good deal on where in the borough it sits.
- Council planning pages
- Gravesham Borough Council
- Local Plan
- The Gravesham development plan, made up of the Local Plan Core Strategy and Policies Map, the remaining saved policies of the older Local Plan First Review and the Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan (Core Strategy and Policies Map adopted September 2014 and still the operative development plan, while the council prepares a new Local Plan (the emerging Local Plan 2042, now at the proposed submission stage before examination)). Local Plan page. A new Local Plan is being prepared.
- What to submit with an application
- Local validation requirements.
- Article 4 directions
- The council has Article 4 directions in place across many of its conservation areas, removing specified permitted development rights. Anyone in or near a conservation area should check the position for a particular property before assuming permitted development rights apply. Article 4 directions.
- Community Infrastructure Levy
- Gravesham is not currently a Community Infrastructure Levy charging authority. It has not adopted a CIL charging schedule and continues to secure contributions from new development through Section 106 planning obligations, so there is no CIL charge to budget for in the borough at present. Community Infrastructure Levy page.
- Conservation areas and heritage
- Heritage protection is significant across the borough, with 23 conservation areas, eleven of them in the rural areas, and over 300 listed buildings, from the historic centre and riverside of Gravesend and Northfleet to rural areas such as Cobham, Meopham, Shorne and Higham. Listed building consent is required before any works that would affect a listed building. Conservation pages.
- Local guidance
- The council publishes supplementary planning documents and design guidance, including a Design Code, a householder extensions and alterations design guide and guidance for conservation areas, alongside its local validation requirements. Supplementary planning documents.
What this means for your project
In Gravesham, the work I do is shaped by whether a property sits in the built-up riverside towns or in the rural areas and conservation areas to the south. For a home extension the council’s householder design guidance is a useful guide to what it expects on materials, proportions and the effect on neighbours, and I work to it from the start. If your property is in or near a conservation area, expect some permitted development rights to have been removed by an Article 4 direction, so work that would be permitted elsewhere may need an application here. There is no Community Infrastructure Levy in the borough at present, so larger schemes are handled through Section 106 obligations. I check the current position for your specific address before any drawings are prepared.
Last checked: 27 June 2026. page reviewed Planning policy, charges and local designations change over time, so please confirm the current position with the council before relying on this summary.