Treborough, Watchet Data via plota.co.uk

EXM/26/068/FULL - Full Planning Permission Approved
AgriculturalChange of useCommercial & major worksCommercial premises

Proposal

Proposed temporary change of use of agricultural land for timber storage and associated wood chipping operations, including a defined operational area, maximum stack height of 3.5 metres, and associated temporary works (10 year permission). Data via plota.co.uk

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View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
26 Feb 2026
✓
Approved
6 May 2026

Approved on 6 May 2026 · Committee · Last checked 6 Sept 2026

Planning committee

Decided by Exmoor Planning Committee on 5 May 2026.

Approved

As officers recommended.

  • Officers advised approval because benefits supporting the CHP plant and renewable energy outweighed the policy conflict.
  • The committee granted permission subject to conditions, citing the site’s suitability, parking and turning space, established access and limited traffic impact.
Read how the committee decided The proposal, site history, officers’ assessment, consultations, committee discussion, vote and decision.

Source: Plota analysis of Exmoor's committee minutes of 5 May 2026.

Documents 1

Statements & assessments 1

PDF Screening Assessment Documents - Document · 2 Mar 2026 View ↗

All documents on the council site ↗

Site constraints 5

Special area of conservation
Exmoor National Park
The park authority decides applications here. Great weight to conserving the landscape; major development restricted.
Landscape, scenic beauty and wildlife carry great weight, and major development is only allowed in exceptional circumstances.
Agricultural land, grade 3b
Not best and most versatile land (grades 1, 2 and 3a). 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), which most planning maps still show, had this area as grade 4. The predicted grade is Defra's current estimate; only a site survey settles it.
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 2
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Special area of conservationCouncil record
Recorded by the council for this site.
Council site ↗
Also on the record
Radon affected area, class 4.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 2026. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, 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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Important details

Council
Exmoor
Application type
Full Planning Permission
Postcode
TA23 0QW
Received
26 Feb 2026
Validated
26 Feb 2026
Case officer
Show
Target decision
6 May 2026
Decision
Approved with Conditions
Decision date
6 May 2026
Decision level
Committee
Applicant
Show
Agent
Channel Architecture Ltd

How this decision compares

Decided in 69 days from validation, about the council's usual 71 days. Approved, as 96% of full applications here are.

37%decided within 8 weeks
96%approved
21%go to committee

Plota live figures for full applications decided by Exmoor in the last twelve months, from validation. Exmoor decision record →

Public comments

1comment received
1 neutral

Last counted 6 Sept 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Consultation
3 Mar 2026
Comments by
4 Apr 2026
Statutory expiry
6 May 2026
Exmoor
Planning Authority Score
4.4/10
Below average
#179 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Change of use

Exmoor is slower than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #248 out of 296. 52% of applications have the time limit extended, above the 41% national average. 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
Exmoor decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
96%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #10 of 296
98%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #15 of 296
47%
Decided in 8 weeks
Below avg (63%) #248 of 296
52%
Extended time limit
Above avg (41%) #234 of 296
100%
Minor dwellings approved
4 decided (1-9 homes)
96%
Change of use approved
26 decided
174
Total decisions
7 refused in the year to March 2026
Source: MHCLG planning statistics · See full council rankings