Sevington Inland Border Facility planning consent

The Sevington Inland Border Facility Crown development application has been given approval by the Planning Inspectorate.

The application was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate by the Department for Transport DfT, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs Defra and His Majesty’s Revenues and Customs HMRC on 20 June 2025 and accepted for examination on 28 July 2025. 

The proposed development includes buildings, goods vehicle parking spaces, entry lanes, refrigerated semi-trailers, staff car parking spaces, access, site infrastructure, utilities, hardstanding, landscaping and ancillary facilities and associated works; and ongoing use of the site for an Inland Border Facility and Border Control Post, operating 24 hours per day, seven days per week.  

The decision to approve was made following an inquiry during which the public, statutory consultees and interested parties were given the opportunity to make representations.  

The decision notice including a statement setting out the reasons for the decision can be found on the Crown Development Applications project page. 

An Ashford Borough Council spokesperson said: “We welcome the security this decision provides on the longer-term use of the site at Sevington, and we are pleased the Government has listened to local feedback and have committed to making some positive improvements to mitigate the issues raised by the local community and planning authority.”

Local planning authority response

The Planning Inspector agreed with the Council’s overall assessment of harm, including to the local landscape and the setting of the national landscape, the settings of listed buildings (including the Grade I St Mary’s Church) and impacts on living conditions and the human rights of nearby residents from light pollution, noise pollution and surface water flooding. 

The Inspector also agreed with the Council’s recommendations for the need to reduce these harms by the imposition of planning conditions requiring the applicant to, first, proactively engage with Sevington with Finberry and Mersham Parish Councils and then, second, to submit detailed mitigation measures to the Council for assessment and approval prior to implementation. 

Ultimately, the Inspector found that the sizeable benefits of this critical national infrastructure (which caters for approximately a third of EU trade) and its associated employment and economic benefits outweigh the harms.

The Inspector also agreed with the Council as to the need to secure several planning obligations to make the development acceptable. The Applicant has made obligations to the Council and Kent County Council through a s106 Unilateral Undertaking. 

As a package, these total £6.7m and are set out in the table at pages 58-59 of the Decision Notice. In summary, they include:

• Financial contributions towards the cost of the completed J10A works
• Off-site pedestrian and cycle connectivity improvements in Willesborough
• Works to St Mary’s Church
• The carrying out of off-site Habitat Enhancement Works involving land to the east of Highfield Lane and thereafter retention of that land as ‘Biodiversity Net Gain Land’ for a period of 30 years
• A financial contribution to KCC to deliver a supplementary improvement scheme to J10A involving the widening of the A20 eastbound approach and the signalisation of the A20 westbound approach and the corresponding circulatory carriageway
• A financial contribution to KCC towards Private Rights of Way improvements east of the site involving the AE363 between Blind Lane and Mersham
• A financial obligation to KCC for Private Rights of Way resurfacing contributions in an area near Church Road