53 & Land Rear Of 55-59 Station Road Smallford St Albans Hertfordshire AL4 0HB Data via plota.co.uk

5/2026/0863 - CON Approved

Proposal

Discharge of Conditions 5 (slab levels), 12 (hard and soft landscaping), 13 (soft landscaping) and 14 (biodiversity enhancements) of planning permission dated 15/12/2025 for Variation of Condition 2 (approved plans) to allow minor changes to t… Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
1 May 2026
✓
Validated
5 May 2026
✓
Approved
24 Jul 2026

Approved on 24 Jul 2026 · Delegated · Last checked 18 Sept 2026

Associated applications 2

  • Part of

    Variationcouncil archive

    Conditions details submitted for 2, 5, 12, 13, 14

    • ConditionsDischarge of Conditions 5 (slab levels), 12 (hard and soft landscaping), 13 (soft landscaping)…This application5/2026/0863

Site constraints 4

Green belt: London
Inappropriate development needs very special circumstances.
Green belt policy allows a short list of exceptions, such as limited extensions and replacement buildings. Anything else needs very special circumstances that clearly outweigh the harm. Some green belt land can count as grey belt, where it does not strongly serve the green belt's purposes. The council decides this in its green belt assessment or on each application, so we do not mark it here.
Read the government guidance ↗
Habitat network: Network Enhancement Zone 2
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Also on the record
Inside the Smallford built-up area; Natural England's Provisional ALC map (1:250,000, 1970s) had this area as grade 2, but it predates the buildings here and the current map does not class it as farmland.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 2026. 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

Council
St Albans
Application type
CON
Postcode
AL4 0HB
Received
1 May 2026
Validated
5 May 2026
Ward
Colney Heath
Parish
COLNEY HEATH
Case officer
Show
Target decision
29 Jul 2026
Decision
Discharge of Condition - Approved
Decision date
24 Jul 2026
Decision level
Delegated
Applicant
Show

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
321357PLN
Planning Portal ref
14902809
Comments by
29 Jul 2026
Statutory expiry
29 Jun 2026
St Albans
Planning Authority Score
1.1/10
Poor
#290 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

St Albans is one of the slowest councils in England for householder decisions, ranking #285 out of 296. The council extends the time limit on 64% of applications - one of the highest rates in England. Expect your application to take longer than the standard deadline. Householder applications are slightly less likely to be approved here (88%) than the national average (90%).

Among the slowest councils in England
for householder decisions
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
St Albans decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
87%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #180 of 296
88%
Householder approved
Below avg (90%) #226 of 296
29%
Decided in 8 weeks
Below avg (63%) #285 of 296
64%
Extended time limit
Above avg (41%) #278 of 296
74%
Minor dwellings approved
130 decided (1-9 homes)
61%
Major dwellings approved
18 decided (10+ homes)
77%
Change of use approved
26 decided
1,411
Total decisions
184 refused in the year to March 2026