Meta description: Learn how to apply for prior approval for a temporary campsite in 2026, covering Class BC in England, Class BA in Wales, fees, plans, timelines and refusal risks.
Hello, farmer, pub owner, hotel operator or rural landowner.
Your land may support a campsite.
Check the planning route first.
This guide explains prior approval campsite applications, Class BC camping England, Class BA camping Wales, the temporary campsite 60 days rule, and the old 28-day rule.
Rules differ between England and Wales.
Check your local planning authority before you open or advertise pitches.
Step 1: Choose the correct permitted development route
England: Class BC camping
In England, Part 4 Class BC allows:
- A recreational campsite for up to 60 days in one calendar year
- Up to 50 pitches
- Moveable structures reasonably needed for the campsite
- Tents
- Motorhomes used as vehicles designed or adapted for human habitation
It does not allow every type of caravan.
It does not create a permanent campsite.
It does not remove the need for separate licences, insurance or safety checks.
Read the official Class BC legislation.
Wales: Class BA camping
Wales uses a separate Class BA right.
The new Welsh rules apply from 1 September 2026.
Outside protected landscapes, Class BA may allow up to 60 campsite days in one calendar year.
Inside a National Park, National Landscape or World Heritage Site, the limit is 28 days.
Use the Welsh Government guidance and check the Welsh Class BA legislation.
Do not apply English Class BC rules to Welsh land.
Step 2: Check whether prior approval is required
Prior approval is not the same as planning permission.
It is a limited check by the local planning authority.
The permitted development right already exists.
The council checks specific matters before you use it.
England: prior approval applies in Flood Zones 2 and 3
For Class BC, prior approval is required when the proposed campsite is in Flood Zone 2 or Flood Zone 3.
You must apply before campsite use begins in each calendar year.
You must also complete the annual written notification required for every Class BC site.
A site outside Flood Zones 2 and 3 normally needs notification, not prior approval.
Check the official flood map for planning.
Wales: notification comes first
For Class BA, notify the Welsh local planning authority before opening.
The authority has 28 days to decide whether prior approval is required.
If it says prior approval is not required, follow the Class BA conditions and operate within the correct 28-day or 60-day limit.
If it requires prior approval, submit the further information and wait for the decision.
Welsh prior approval can cover:
- Toilets and wastewater facilities
- Waste and wastewater disposal
- Highway access and egress
Use the Welsh prior approval form and guidance.
Step 3: Check exclusions before preparing an application
Do not start with the form.
Start with the land.
In England, Class BC does not apply to:
- Scheduled monuments
- Safety hazard areas
- Military explosives storage areas
- Sites of Special Scientific Interest
- Listed building sites
- Land where the relevant permitted development right has been removed
Class BC also restricts caravan use.
A listed pub or hotel needs extra care.
The surrounding land may fall within the listed building’s curtilage.
Check the heritage position before you choose pitches.
In Wales, check for:
- Listed buildings and curtilage
- Sites of Special Scientific Interest
- Special Areas of Conservation
- Special Protection Areas
- Ramsar sites
- Scheduled monuments
- Flood Zones 2 and 3
- Safety hazard areas
- Military explosives storage areas
- Article 4 Directions
- Planning conditions removing permitted development rights
Check the Welsh 100-metre restriction near protected dwellings.
Map nearby homes.
Measure the distance on a scaled plan.
Ask the LPA if the position is unclear.
Step 4: Prepare the site plan
Use one clear, scaled plan.
Mark:
- The application site boundary
- Field names or reference points
- Each pitch
- Tent and motorhome areas
- Site entrances
- Vehicle routes
- Highway access
- Emergency access
- Parking
- Toilets
- Wastewater facilities
- Waste storage
- Water points
- Fire points
- Nearby homes
- Nearby watercourses
- Flood zones
- Protected sites
- Areas excluded from camping
Use a north arrow.
Add a scale bar.
Label every facility.
Do not submit a vague aerial photograph.
The plan must show how the campsite will work.
For an England Class BC notification, include the site plan, toilet and waste details, and the exact dates of use.
For an England flood-zone application, include the same operational information.
For a Wales Class BA submission, include the pitches, facilities, waste arrangements, access and operating dates.
Step 5: Prepare the flood risk assessment in England
A Flood Zone 2 or 3 Class BC application must include a site-specific Flood Risk Assessment.
Cover:
- Flood sources
- Flood depth and flow
- Safe access
- Warning systems
- Evacuation arrangements
- Assembly points
- Emergency contacts
- Closure procedures
- Weather monitoring
- Toilet and waste risks during flooding
Do not submit a generic flood report.
Relate the assessment to your field.
Show where campers go.
Show how vehicles leave.
Show how you will stop people entering during unsafe conditions.
The council must consult the Environment Agency.
The consultation period must allow at least 21 days for a response.
Step 6: Know what the council can consider
Prior approval is narrow.
In England, the LPA considers flood-risk matters relevant to Class BC.
It must take account of the Environment Agency response.
It must have regard to relevant national planning policy.
It may impose conditions connected to the flood-risk subject matter.
It cannot use this process as a full planning application for every concern.
It should not decide the general commercial value of your campsite.
It should not assess unrelated design preferences.
It should not refuse because a neighbour dislikes camping, unless the issue is relevant to the matters being assessed.
In Wales, the Class BA prior approval process focuses on the matters set by the Welsh GPDO.
These include toilets, wastewater, waste disposal and highway access or egress.
The council can check whether those arrangements work.
It cannot turn a limited prior approval process into a general debate about whether rural tourism is desirable.
This does not prevent separate enforcement, licensing or planning action if another rule applies.
Step 7: Budget for the fee and timeline
England fees and timing
For an England Class BC prior approval application in Flood Zone 2 or 3, the 2026 fee is £249.
The fee is due to rise to £310 from 8 December 2026.
The LPA has 56 days to decide.
Do not start before:
- Written prior approval, or
- 56 days have passed without the LPA notifying you whether approval is granted or refused
Keep proof of receipt.
Count the 56 days from the date the valid application is received.
Plan at least eight weeks before your first booking.
Allow more time if your flood assessment needs work.
Wales fees and timing
Wales uses a two-stage process.
First, the LPA has 28 days to decide whether prior approval is required.
If it requires approval, submit the additional information.
Allow around eight weeks for the decision, unless the authority confirms a different statutory position.
Check the current Welsh fee before submitting.
Do not assume the English £249 fee applies in Wales.
Step 8: Understand common refusal triggers
Applications fail when the basics are unclear.
Common problems include:
- The site is in an excluded location
- The wrong GPDO class is used
- The plan does not show toilets or waste facilities
- The Flood Risk Assessment is generic
- Evacuation arrangements are missing
- The site access is unsafe
- Vehicles block the highway
- The proposal exceeds the pitch limit
- The proposal exceeds the annual day limit
- A Welsh site sits within a restricted designation
- A listed building’s curtilage is ignored
- The proposal includes caravans or permanent structures outside the right
- An Article 4 Direction is missed
- The application is submitted after bookings begin
- The operating dates are vague
- The plan and application description do not match
Fix these points before submission.
Step 9: Know the difference between each route
Prior approval
Use prior approval when the permitted development rules require a council check.
It is limited.
It is not full planning permission.
Full planning permission
Use full planning permission when you want a permanent campsite, longer operation, permanent buildings, major access works, hardstanding, fixed toilet blocks or uses outside the permitted development right.
Full planning takes longer.
It covers a wider range of planning matters.
The 28-day rule
The old 28-day rule is not a general campsite solution in England.
Ordinary camping is excluded from the standard Class B route, except for narrow festival-related cases.
In Wales, the 28-day limit still applies to Class BA sites in certain protected landscapes.
Do not treat all UK land as having the same rule.
The 60-day rule
The temporary campsite 60 days rule is a calendar-year limit.
It is not a rolling 12-month allowance.
Keep one day-count record for the whole campsite.
Moving guests between fields does not create extra days.
Step 10: Complete the checks after approval
Prior approval is not the finish line.
Before opening:
- Send the required annual notification
- Confirm your operating dates
- Check the pitch count
- Install toilets and waste facilities
- Confirm waste collections
- Brief staff
- Mark emergency routes
- Check insurance
- Contact the licensing team
- Check fire safety
- Confirm access
- Keep your decision notice and plans on site
Do not exceed the approved details.
Do not add permanent works without separate advice.
Do not continue beyond the annual limit.
Open Sky Adventure can help
Open Sky Adventure is a specialist authority in licensed camping and land-based adventure.
We help farmers, pub owners, hotel operators and rural landowners assess sites, plan operations and prepare for compliant camping.
Start with Unlock Your Land and Potential.
Review our legal guidance.
Then join the group and sign up on the Open Sky Adventure website.
We will happily help you, signup live now if you have an interest in joining our license agreement.
This guide is general information for 2026. Confirm your site position with the relevant local planning authority, licensing team and professional advisers before opening.