Ashley Moor Hall Ashley Moor Orleton Ludlow Herefordshire SY8 4JJ Data via plota.co.uk

P262309/PA6 - (Part 3) Class R - Prior Approval Approved

Proposal

Prior approval application for the change of use of an agricultural building to a flexible office use falling within class E (commercial, business or service). Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
4 Aug 2026
✓
Approved
28 Sept 2026

Approved on 28 Sept 2026 · Last checked 8 Oct 2026

Site constraints 6

Agricultural land, grade 3b
Not 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.
Public footpath 23 m away
Matters where it crosses or adjoins the site: obstructing a path without a diversion order is an offence, and work cannot start until the order is confirmed.
Compiled from highway authority data, not the legal definitive map. A few authorities have not published, so no path shown is not proof there is none.
Habitat network: Network Enhancement Zone 1
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
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 ↗
Also on the record
3 listed buildings within 150 m; Priority habitat 25 m away: No main habitat but additional habitats present.
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, 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
(Part 3) Class R - Prior Approval
Postcode
SY8 4JJ
Received
4 Aug 2026
Validated
4 Aug 2026
Ward
Bircher
Parish
Orleton
Target decision
29 Sept 2026
Decision
Prior Approval Not Required
Decision date
28 Sept 2026

How this decision compares

Decided in 55 days from validation, 29 days slower than Herefordshire's median of 26 for agricultural works. Approved, as 88% of agricultural works here are.

85%decided within 8 weeks
88%approved
179decided in the last year

Plota live figures for agricultural works decided by Herefordshire in the last twelve months, from validation. Herefordshire decision record →

Consultation & key dates

Consultation
5 Aug 2026
Comments by
18 Sept 2026
Site or press notice
5 Aug 2026
Herefordshire
Planning Authority Score
3.3/10
Poor
#224 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Change of use

Herefordshire is slower than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #250 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 (95%) 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
Herefordshire decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
93%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #56 of 296
95%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #79 of 296
46%
Decided in 8 weeks
Below avg (63%) #250 of 296
60%
Extended time limit
Above avg (41%) #269 of 296
89%
Minor dwellings approved
278 decided (1-9 homes)
67%
Major dwellings approved
18 decided (10+ homes)
92%
Change of use approved
104 decided
1,406
Total decisions
96 refused in the year to March 2026