The Copper Barns Main Street Bitchfield Lincolnshire NG33 4DY Data via plota.co.uk

S26/0828 - Householder Approved

Proposal

To site 24 solar panels at ground level on an unused hard standing tennis court at the bottom of the rear garden Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
11 May 2026
✓
Approved
5 Aug 2026

Approved on 5 Aug 2026 · Delegated Decision · Last checked 6 Aug 2026

Site constraints 3

Grade II listed: Crown Inn With Attached Barn
List entry 1062866 · 15 m away · 3 more listed buildings within 150 m (3 Grade II)
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 the other 3 with distances
Historic England ↗
Agricultural land, grade 1
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 3. 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 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 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.

Sales history 1

Last sold for £625,000 in December 2025. Other property, freehold.

1 December 2025£625,000Recorded as a transfer outside a standard sale

Sale prices from HM Land Registry's price paid record, matched to this application by its address.

Building

Floor area193 m² (2,077 sq ft)
Energy ratingE (52 out of 100), could reach D
PropertySemi-detached house, 8 habitable rooms
Built1983 to 1990
HeatingBoiler and radiators, LPG
WallsSandstone or limestone, with internal insulation

From the energy performance certificate lodged in March 2025, the latest held for this property. The building may have changed since. View the certificate

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Important details

Application type
Householder
Postcode
NG33 4DY
Received
11 May 2026
Validated
11 May 2026
Ward
Lincrest Ward
Parish
Bitchfield & Bassingthorpe Parish Counci
Case officer
Show
Target decision
6 Jul 2026
Decision
Approved conditionally
Decision date
5 Aug 2026
Decision level
Delegated Decision
Applicant
Show

How this decision compares

Decided in 86 days from validation, 24 days slower than South Kesteven's median of 62 for householder applications. Approved, as 94% of householder applications here are.

43%decided within 8 weeks
94%approved
231decided in the last year

Plota live figures for householder applications decided by South Kesteven in the last twelve months, from validation. South Kesteven decision record →

Public comments

No public comments yet.

4 neighbours consulted · Last counted 6 Aug 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-14884884
Planning Portal ref
PP-14884884
Comments by
13 Jun 2026
Statutory expiry
6 Jul 2026
Env. assessment
No
South Kesteven
Planning Authority Score
2.7/10
Poor
#244 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

South Kesteven is slower than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #262 out of 296. The council extends the time limit on 60% of applications - one of the highest rates in England. Expect your application to take longer than the standard deadline. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (94%) than the national average (90%).

Frequently extends decision deadlines
expect longer than the statutory limit
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
South Kesteven decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
91%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #100 of 296
94%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #118 of 296
43%
Decided in 8 weeks
Below avg (63%) #262 of 296
60%
Extended time limit
Above avg (41%) #270 of 296
69%
Minor dwellings approved
110 decided (1-9 homes)
90%
Major dwellings approved
20 decided (10+ homes)
87%
Change of use approved
55 decided
1,002
Total decisions
95 refused in the year to March 2026

Sale prices: Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Freehold boundary: © Crown copyright and database rights 2026, HM Land Registry. Polygons © Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey 100026316. Conditions of use

Energy performance: Energy performance certificates from the Energy Performance of Buildings Register, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright 2026.