Meta description: Learn how to respond to campsite enforcement notices in 2026, including Class BC camping in England, Class BA camping in Wales, appeals, evidence, and compliant relaunch plans.
Hello, farmer, pub owner, hotel owner or rural landowner.
Your campsite has received a council letter.
A neighbour has complained.
Your site may have passed its limit.
Stay calm.
Act quickly.
This guide explains what happens next under the permitted development rights campsite UK rules, including Class BC camping England, Class BA camping Wales, and the temporary campsite 60 days rule.
This is practical information.
It is not legal advice.
Check the latest rules with your local planning authority and an enforcement specialist.
What triggers a campsite enforcement visit?
A council may investigate after:
- A neighbour complaint.
- A site inspection.
- An advert or booking page.
- A pitch count.
- A fire or licensing referral.
- A flood, highway or waste concern.
- Information from another council department.
A complaint does not prove a breach.
The council must establish what happened.
Common triggers include:
You exceed the 60-day limit
Class BC in England allows a recreational campsite for up to 60 days in a calendar year.
It also allows up to 50 pitches.
Class BA in Wales allows up to 60 days in most eligible areas.
The limit remains 28 days in Welsh National Parks, National Landscapes and World Heritage Sites.
Count calendar days.
Record setup days.
Record closure days.
Record days when tents or motorhomes remain on the land.
Do not count only booked nights.
You exceed the pitch limit
England has a 50-pitch limit under Class BC.
Wales has no equivalent national pitch number in the current Class BA wording.
That does not mean unlimited pitches are safe.
The council can still assess access, traffic, waste, toilets, neighbours and site impact.
Keep your pitch plan accurate.
You skip the required process
England requires written notification before the campsite starts each calendar year.
Prior approval is also required for Class BC land in Flood Zones 2 or 3.
You must not start before written approval, or before the relevant 56-day period ends without a decision notice.
Wales requires a Class BA application for a determination before opening each year.
If the council says prior approval is required, submit the further application.
Wait for written approval.
Opening without the required determination or approval creates a planning risk.
Read the Class BC legislation and the Welsh Class BA Order.
You change the approved site
You may have added pitches.
You may have moved the entrance.
You may have changed the operating dates.
You may have added fixed structures.
You may have changed toilet or waste arrangements.
These changes can take the use outside the permitted development right.
Check before changing the site.
Planning enquiry, breach notice or enforcement notice?
These are different stages.
1. Planning enforcement enquiry
This is usually the first step.
The council asks questions.
It may request:
- Operating dates.
- Pitch numbers.
- Site plans.
- Booking information.
- Photographs.
- Planning documents.
- Licensing details.
The council may visit the land.
It may contact neighbours.
It may ask you to stop using the site while it investigates.
Reply clearly.
Use dates and documents.
Do not ignore the letter.
Do not destroy or alter records.
2. Breach of condition notice
A breach of condition notice applies where you fail to comply with a condition attached to planning permission.
It is not normally the main route for an alleged Class BC or Class BA limit breach.
The notice states what condition has been breached.
It states what you must do.
There is no standard planning appeal route against a breach of condition notice.
Take advice immediately.
You may need to comply, negotiate, or challenge the legal position through another route.
3. Enforcement notice
An enforcement notice is formal action.
It identifies:
- The land.
- The alleged breach.
- The reasons for action.
- The steps required.
- The date the notice takes effect.
- The compliance period.
The notice may require you to stop the campsite use.
It may require removal of tents, toilets, signage, access works or other structures.
Read every page.
Mark every deadline.
Do not assume that a retrospective application pauses the notice.
Build your evidence pack now
Prepare one folder.
Use a clear file name and date every document.
Include:
Operating records
- Daily campsite log.
- Arrival and departure dates.
- Total days used.
- Pitch numbers.
- Unit types.
- Setup and closure dates.
- Photographs with dates.
- Booking records.
- Advertising screenshots.
Planning documents
- Site location plan.
- Numbered pitch plan.
- Class BC notification.
- Prior approval application.
- Prior approval decision.
- Welsh determination acknowledgement.
- Welsh prior approval decision.
- Council emails.
- Fee receipts.
- Proof of submission.
Safety and site management
- Risk assessments.
- Emergency plan.
- Fire arrangements.
- Evacuation plan.
- Access and turning plan.
- Public liability insurance.
- Landowner consent.
- Staff or guide training records.
Site services
- Toilet contract.
- Waste collection contract.
- Waste transfer notes.
- Wastewater removal records.
- Cleaning logs.
- Water supply records.
- Contractor contact details.
Keep originals.
Keep email headers where possible.
Keep photographs in their original format.
Use a short chronology.
State what happened, when it happened, and what document proves it.
Do not rely on memory.
Can you negotiate a solution?
Often, yes.
The council may prefer a controlled remedy to a long dispute.
Write a short response.
Confirm that you are reviewing the site.
Offer practical steps.
These may include:
- Stopping new bookings.
- Closing the site early.
- Removing excess pitches.
- Removing unapproved structures.
- Reducing operating dates.
- Moving the site away from homes.
- Improving waste and toilet arrangements.
- Providing a new access plan.
- Applying for temporary planning permission.
Ask the council to confirm its concerns in writing.
Ask whether officers will consider a compliance meeting.
Keep the tone factual.
Do not admit a breach before checking the facts.
Do not make promises that you cannot deliver.
Retrospective planning permission
A retrospective application may regularise an unauthorised use.
It does not guarantee permission.
It does not automatically stop enforcement.
Once an enforcement notice is issued, the council may have power to decline a related application.
A ground (a) enforcement appeal can ask for planning permission for the development.
Choose the route carefully.
Get specialist advice before filing both an application and an appeal.
Temporary permission
A temporary planning application may suit a site that needs time to prove its operation.
The application can set:
- A fixed operating period.
- Pitch numbers.
- Opening dates.
- Site layout.
- Noise controls.
- Access arrangements.
- Waste and toilet conditions.
- Restoration requirements.
This can be more practical than fighting every point.
It can also give the council a clear management framework.
What are the 4-year and 10-year rules?
The time limit depends on the alleged breach.
In England, current guidance generally provides:
- 10 years for operational development substantially completed on or after 25 April 2024.
- 4 years for older operational development, subject to transitional rules.
- 10 years for most other breaches, including continuing changes of land use.
- Separate rules for changes to a single dwellinghouse.
A campsite enforcement case usually concerns a change of use.
The 10-year rule may therefore be relevant.
Do not treat the rule as a waiting strategy.
You must prove the use.
You must show continuity.
You must show that no exception applies.
The council may also use special statutory powers in some cases.
Keep historic evidence.
Use old booking records, dated photographs, invoices, planning correspondence and witness statements.
Ask a planning solicitor to assess the exact breach.
How do you appeal an enforcement notice?
You must appeal before the notice takes effect.
The deadline is strict.
A late appeal can be rejected.
In England, you can appeal on grounds such as:
- The alleged breach did not happen.
- The matter is not a breach.
- Planning permission should be granted.
- The notice was not properly served.
- The required steps are excessive.
- The compliance period is too short.
- The council acted outside the time limit.
Use the Planning Inspectorate enforcement appeal guide.
In Wales, submit the appeal to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales before the effective date.
The full statement of case is your main opportunity to explain the facts.
Use the Welsh enforcement appeal guidance.
Realistic appeal timescales
A simple England appeal may take several months.
Written representations include formal stages at weeks 2, 6 and 9, followed by a site visit and decision.
Hearings and inquiries take longer.
In Wales, the published targets are:
- Around 28 weeks for written representations.
- Around 41 weeks for a hearing or inquiry.
Treat these as planning estimates.
The case may take longer.
An appeal does not mean you can keep operating as normal.
Check the notice.
Take advice on whether the appeal suspends its requirements.
Shut the site down tidily
If the site cannot operate lawfully, close it in an orderly way.
Follow this sequence:
- Stop new bookings.
- Contact existing guests.
- Confirm the final departure date.
- Remove tents and movable structures.
- Remove signs and advertising.
- Empty toilets and wastewater tanks.
- Remove stored waste.
- Photograph the cleared land.
- Record the final operating day.
- Keep contractor receipts.
- Notify the council of the steps taken.
- Keep the field available for inspection.
Do not move the same operation to another field to avoid the limit.
The council may view connected fields as one campsite.
Do not leave facilities in place if the land remains available for camping.
Relaunch compliantly next season
Start again with a site review.
Check England or Wales.
Check the annual day limit.
Check flood zones.
Check protected sites.
Check the Welsh 100-metre dwelling buffer.
Check local Article 4 Directions.
Prepare the site plan.
Number the pitches.
Confirm toilets and waste services.
Arrange insurance.
Complete risk assessments.
Submit the correct notification or determination.
Wait for required approval.
Create a day-count system.
Review every proposed change before making it.
For wider camping legislation UK 2026 guidance, read Open Sky Adventure’s Class BC and Class BA comparison and prior approval campsite guide.
Use camping as planned farm diversification camping.
Keep the operation small enough to manage.
Keep the records complete.
Ask for help before taking bookings.
Visit Unlock Your Land and Potential, then join the group and sign up on the website.
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