Land North Of Letch Lane And California Farm Horseclose Lane Carlton Stockton On Tees Data via plota.co.uk

26/0806/FUL - Full Application Approved

Proposal

Engineering operations including the installation of an underground cabling connection and associated infrastructure from California 2 Solar Farm to California Farm Solar Farm Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
27 Apr 2026
✓
Consultation
1 May 2026
✓
Approved
10 Jul 2026

Approved on 10 Jul 2026 · Delegated Decision · Last checked 10 Jul 2026

Documents 29

All documents on the council site ↗

Site constraints 6

Nutrient neutrality catchment: Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast SPA/Ramsar
New homes and overnight accommodation must show nutrient neutrality before approval.
Natural England advice: extra wastewater in these catchments harms protected habitats, so schemes must offset their nutrient load, usually through credits.
National infrastructure project: Byers Gill Solar
The site is inside the project boundary. Generating station, decided. The project page says whether consent was granted. Also within 2 km: East Coast Hydrogen Teesside Pipeline (at pre-application, about 1187 m).
Nationally significant infrastructure projects (power stations, electricity lines, pipelines, major roads and railways, harbours, airports and reservoirs) are consented by a Secretary of State under the Planning Act 2008, after an examination by the Planning Inspectorate, rather than by the council. The boundary is the one the Inspectorate consults on and can change as the scheme does. Projects are shown within 2 km of the site.
Planning Inspectorate project page ↗
Agricultural land, grade 3a
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) 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; Priority habitat about 48 m away: Traditional orchard.
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 Planning Inspectorate, 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

Application type
Full Application
Postcode
TS21 1EE
Received
27 Apr 2026
Validated
27 Apr 2026
Ward
Northern Parishes
Parish
Carlton Parish Council
Case officer
Show
Target decision
22 Jun 2026
Decision
Approved with Conditions
Decision date
10 Jul 2026
Decision level
Delegated Decision
Applicant
Show
Agent
Axis

How this decision compares

Decided in 74 days from validation, 31 days slower than Stockton-on-Tees's median of 43 for utility and infrastructure works. Approved, as 98% of utility and infrastructure works here are.

86%decided within 8 weeks
98%approved
81decided in the last year

Plota live figures for utility and infrastructure works decided by Stockton-on-Tees in the last twelve months, from validation. Stockton-on-Tees decision record →

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-14869873
Planning Portal ref
PP-14869873
Neighbours
10 Jul 2026
Consultation
1 May 2026
Comments by
10 Jul 2026
Site or press notice
5 May 2026
Statutory expiry
22 Jun 2026
Env. assessment
No
Stockton-on-Tees
Planning Authority Score
5.8/10
Average
#112 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Stockton-on-Tees ranks #180 out of 296 councils for householder decision speed. Householder applications are more likely to be approved here than most councils, with a 97% approval rate vs 90% nationally.

More permissive than most councils
97% approved vs 90% nationally
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Stockton-on-Tees decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
93%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #67 of 296
97%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #44 of 296
61%
Decided in 8 weeks
Below avg (63%) #180 of 296
40%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #155 of 296
79%
Minor dwellings approved
19 decided (1-9 homes)
82%
Major dwellings approved
11 decided (10+ homes)
86%
Change of use approved
44 decided
612
Total decisions
41 refused in the year to March 2026