Guide: Conservation Sites · approx. 5 min read
Putting a gate or fence on protected land isn't hard, but it does need more thought up front than a commercial job. Get the checks done early and the project moves quickly. Skip them, and a gate can end up specified, queried, redesigned and delayed by a season.
This checklist covers what we look at before specifying anything on a reserve, trust property or heritage estate. It isn't legal advice: always confirm requirements with the relevant authority for your site.
1. What designations apply?
- SSSI: owners and occupiers generally need consent from Natural England (or NatureScot, Natural Resources Wales or DAERA) for operations listed in the site's notification, which can include groundworks and fencing.
- Listed buildings and registered parks and gardens: gates and boundaries within the setting may need listed building consent or planning permission.
- Scheduled monuments: any ground disturbance needs scheduled monument consent.
- Conservation areas and national landscapes: may affect what's permitted development and what design is acceptable.
Designations affect design as well as permission. It's one reason we often recommend five-bar style gates and muted finishes on these sites.
2. Does a public right of way cross the entrance?
If the track is a footpath, bridleway or byway, the public must still be able to use it. In practice that means:
- A pedestrian or bridle gate alongside any vehicle gate, so the public route is never blocked.
- Checking whether a new gate or structure needs authorisation from the highway authority. For gates installed to control livestock on footpaths and bridleways, this is usually done under Section 147 of the Highways Act 1980.
- Designing to the relevant British Standard for gaps, gates and stiles (BS 5709) where the authority expects it.
Speak to your county's rights of way team early. They'd much rather see a drawing before installation than deal with a complaint afterwards.
3. What moves across the boundary?
Think about animals as well as people:
- Conservation grazing stock: the gate must be stock-proof and ideally self-closing.
- Badgers, deer and other mammals: a new fence can cut established routes. Plan gaps or badger gates where runs cross the line.
- Ground-nesting and wetland birds: consider where fences create perches for predators or collision risk.
4. When can the work happen?
Ask your ecologist about sensitive periods. Nesting birds are protected by law, so clearance and groundworks near suitable habitat are often scheduled outside the main breeding season. Other constraints can include wintering birds, amphibian migration or flooding on wetland sites. Build this into the programme from the start.
5. How will it be powered?
A cable trench to a remote entrance can disturb protected ground and may itself need consent. Off-grid solar avoids the trench entirely. Check the panel will have a reasonable view of the southern sky in winter, and keep power-hungry extras like continuous CCTV on a separate plan.
6. What goes in the ground?
Automated gates need concrete foundations, and sliding gates need a substantial block on the motor side. Ask for drawings showing foundation sizes and depths so they can be checked against any archaeological or ecological constraint. We supply these as standard.
7. Who needs to sign it off?
Typically some combination of: your estates or property team, a site ecologist, the conservation officer, Natural England, the rights of way officer and, on trust land, a committee or budget holder. Share a clear specification with all of them at once rather than one at a time.
What your quote should include
- Gate and fence specification, with finish and why it suits the setting
- Foundation drawings
- Power source, and why off-grid was or wasn't chosen
- How public access and wildlife movement are handled
- Access control arrangements for staff, volunteers, graziers and contractors
- Any assumptions about consents and timing
If a quote doesn't mention any of this, it was probably written for a commercial site and adapted.
Talk to us
Send us the site's location, designations and what you need the entrance to do. We'll put together a specification your estates team and consultees can review. Call 01371 831731, book a site survey, or see our conservation and nature reserve page.