Land to the south of Fern Bank Whowells Farm Broadhead Road Edgworth Bolton BL7 0JJ Data via plota.co.uk

10/26/0209 - Full Planning Application Approved

Proposal

Change of use of agricultural land to equestrian use and erection of stables Data via plota.co.uk

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View original council record ↗Last checked 1 Oct 2026, 03:14

Application progress

✓

Received

6 Mar 2026

✓

Validated

24 Mar 2026

✓

Committee

28 May 2026

✓

Approved

29 May 2026

Approved on 29 May 2026 · Planning and Highways Committee · Last checked 1 Oct 2026

Planning committee

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Email address

Documents 17

Associated applications 2

Full29 May 202610/26/0209This application
Change of use of agricultural land to equestrian use and erection of stables
Conditions details submitted for 3
- ConditionsDischarge Condition No.3 'landscaping scheme'8 Jun 202610/26/0530

Site constraints 5

Coal mining development high risk area

Recorded coal mining features at or near the surface. Most planning applications here need a coal mining risk assessment.

From the Mining Remediation Authority, formerly the Coal Authority. The development high risk area marks recorded coal mining features at or near the surface: mine shafts and adits, shallow workings, mine gas and former opencast sites. Most planning applications there need a coal mining risk assessment; householder applications, changes of use and some minor works are exempt. Mine entry positions come from old plans and can be out by several metres, and unrecorded workings can exist anywhere in the coalfield.

Coal mining risk assessments ↗

Agricultural land, grade 5

Very poor quality farmland, not best and most versatile. Source: the Predictive Agricultural Land Classification Map (Defra and Natural England, 2025; the Welsh Government's Predictive ALC Map 2 in Wales), a model rather than a site survey. Natural England's Provisional ALC map (1:250,000, 1970s) agrees.

Where development of farmland is needed, policy prefers poorer land over the best and most versatile (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Three sources: Natural England's post-1988 field surveys, which are definitive where they exist; the Defra predictive map for England (2025) and the Welsh Government predictive map, modelled from the soil map with 3a and 3b split; and the 1970s provisional map, which planners and other services still show, coarser and with grade 3 undivided. Where the provisional and predicted grades disagree, treat the predicted grade as the current estimate and expect an application to carry its own survey.

Habitat network: Network Enhancement Zone 1

Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.

Also on the record

Radon affected area, class 2; SSSI about 334 m away: West Pennine Moors SSSI.

Not affected

Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 2026. The pin for this application is the centre of its postcode rather than the building, so distances to nearby designations are measured from the postcode and can be out by the width of the postcode area. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Mining Remediation Authority, the British Geological Survey and UK Health Security Agency (radon, contains BGS materials © UKRI) and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

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Other new applications on this street

8 Jun 2026Approved

Whowells Farm Broadhead Road Turton Bolton BL7 0JJ

Discharge Condition No.3 'landscaping scheme' pursuant to planning application 1...

10/26/0530

28 Sept 2026Pending

Lower Edge Barn Broadhead Road, Edgworth, Bolton, Blackburn With Darwen, BL7 0JG

Discharge Condition Nos 3 "materials", 4 "boundary treatment scheme", 6 "surface...

10/26/0842

15 Sept 2026Pending

LITTLE EDGE FARM Broadhead Road, Edgworth, Bolton, Blackburn With Darwen, BL7 0JG

Variation of Condition No.3 "20 year permission and decommissioning of the site"...

10/26/0814

27 Jul 2026Pending

HIGHER PASTURES FARM Broadhead Road, Edgworth, Bolton, Blackburn With Darwen, BL7 0JW

Removal of lawful residential caravan and construction of single dwelling (Use C...

10/26/0679

Important details

Council: Blackburn
Application type: Full Planning Application
Postcode: BL7 0JJ
Received: 6 Mar 2026
Validated: 24 Mar 2026
Ward: West Pennine
Parish: Blackburn
Case officer: Show
Target decision: 31 May 2026
Decision: PERMITS
Decision date: 29 May 2026
Decision level: Planning and Highways Committee
Applicant: Show

How this decision compares

Decided in 66 days from validation, 11 days slower than Blackburn's median of 55 for changes of use. Approved, as 79% of changes of use here are.

This one66d

Council55d

UK56d

64%decided within 8 weeks

79%approved

10%go to committee

Plota live figures for changes of use decided by Blackburn in the last twelve months, from validation. Blackburn decision record →

Consultation & key dates

Committee: 28 May 2026
Statutory expiry: 31 May 2026

Blackburn

Planning Authority Score

7.2/10

Good

#55 of 296 councils

Relevant to this application:

Change of use

Blackburn is faster than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #90 out of 296. Householder applications are more likely to be approved here than most councils, with a 98% approval rate vs 90% nationally.

More permissive than most councils

98% approved vs 90% nationally

These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance

Blackburn decision statistics

Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026

96%

Overall approval rate

Above avg (87%) #7 of 296

98%

Householder approved

Above avg (90%) #10 of 296

73%

Decided in 8 weeks

Above avg (63%) #90 of 296

40%

Extended time limit

Below avg (41%) #147 of 296

88%

Minor dwellings approved

40 decided (1-9 homes)

100%

Major dwellings approved

7 decided (10+ homes)

86%

Change of use approved

56 decided

519

Total decisions

23 refused in the year to March 2026

Land to the south of Fern Bank Whowells Farm Broadhead Road Edgworth Bolton BL7 0JJ Data via plota.co.uk

Proposal

Application progress

Planning committee

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Documents 17

Decision & officer reports 2

Statements & assessments 2

Plans & drawings 8

Application forms 1

Consultation & comments 2

Other documents 2