Barton Town Farm Challacombe Barnstaple Devon EX31 4TW Data via plota.co.uk

81859 - Telecommunications Prior Notification Approved

Proposal

Prior notification by telecommunications code system operator for Installation of a 22.5m lattice tower supporting 3no. antennas, 2no. 0.6m dishes and ancillary equipment; 2no. equipment cabinets, 1no. meter cabinet and associated ancillary equipment enclosed within a 1.1m stockproof fence compound. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
4 Jun 2026
✓
Approved
30 Jul 2026

Approved on 30 Jul 2026 · Delegated · Last checked 14 Sept 2026

Site constraints 4

4 listed buildings within 150 m of the postcode pin
Nearest: Outbuilding Approximately 15 Metres South West of Barton Town Farmhouse, Grade II, about 4 m from the postcode pin · 1 Grade II*, 3 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 4 with distances
Historic England ↗
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 4
Poor quality farmland, not best and most versatile. 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.
Radon affected area, class 5
An estimated 10 to 30% of homes reach the radon action level. Indicative for the 1 km square, which takes the highest class found in it; a radon test gives the answer for a building.
From the British Geological Survey and UK Health Security Agency indicative atlas. Under building regulations, as the BRE guide BR 211 (2023) sets out, new buildings and extensions need basic radon protection from class 3 in England and Wales and from class 2 in Scotland, and full protection from class 5. The class at the site itself, from the detailed BGS map, decides which.
UKHSA radon ↗
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 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
Telecommunications Prior Notification
Postcode
EX31 4TW
Received
4 Jun 2026
Validated
4 Jun 2026
Ward
BRATTON FLEMING
Parish
CHALLACOMBE
Case officer
Show
Decision
Prior Approval Not Required
Decision date
30 Jul 2026
Decision level
Delegated
Applicant
Show
Agent
Veronica Raescu

How this decision compares

Decided in 56 days from validation, 29 days slower than North Devon's median of 27 for prior approvals. Approved, as 91% of prior approvals here are.

94%decided within 8 weeks
91%approved
81decided in the last year

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

Consultation & key dates

Consultation
10 Jun 2026
Comments by
9 Jul 2026
Statutory expiry
30 Jul 2026
North Devon
Planning Authority Score
6.1/10
Average
#99 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

North Devon ranks #140 out of 296 councils for householder decision speed. 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
North Devon decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
94%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #42 of 296
98%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #20 of 296
67%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #140 of 296
45%
Extended time limit
Above avg (41%) #192 of 296
88%
Minor dwellings approved
220 decided (1-9 homes)
87%
Major dwellings approved
15 decided (10+ homes)
95%
Change of use approved
42 decided
939
Total decisions
58 refused in the year to March 2026