Bluegates Farm Loves Lane Ashwell Baldock Hertfordshire SG7 5JE Data via plota.co.uk

26/01095/AG - Agricultural Determination Approved

Proposal

Erection of agricultural storage building. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
5 May 2026
✓
Approved
2 Jun 2026

Approved on 2 Jun 2026 · Delegated · Last checked 5 Jul 2026

Site constraints 3

2 listed buildings within 150 m of the postcode pin
Nearest: Bluegates Farmhouse, Grade II*, about 11 m from the postcode pin · 1 Grade II*, 1 Grade II
The site itself is not listed. Listed building consent is needed for work that affects the special interest of a listed building, inside or out, on top of planning permission. Setting can be a consideration for buildings nearby; there is no fixed radius.
Show all 2 with distances
Historic England ↗
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 Expansion Zone
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 11 September 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 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
Agricultural Determination
Postcode
SG7 5JE
Received
5 May 2026
Validated
5 May 2026
Ward
Arbury Ward
Parish
Ashwell Parish Council
Case officer
Show
Decision
Prior Approval Not Required
Decision date
2 Jun 2026
Decision level
Delegated
Applicant
Show

How this decision compares

Decided in 28 days from validation, about the council's usual 29 days. Approved, as 97% of prior approvals here are.

100%decided within 8 weeks
97%approved
32decided in the last year

Plota live figures for prior approvals decided by North Hertfordshire in the last twelve months, from validation. North Hertfordshire decision record →

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-14877809
North Hertfordshire
Planning Authority Score
6.9/10
Good
#66 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

North Hertfordshire ranks #128 out of 296 councils for householder decision speed. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (95%) than the national average (90%).

These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
North Hertfordshire decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
93%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #62 of 296
95%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #87 of 296
69%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #128 of 296
32%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #65 of 296
82%
Minor dwellings approved
112 decided (1-9 homes)
84%
Major dwellings approved
19 decided (10+ homes)
90%
Change of use approved
21 decided
1,102
Total decisions
82 refused in the year to March 2026