Reading Room Cottages Church Lane North Ockendon RM14 3QB Data via plota.co.uk

P0836.26 Undecided

Proposal

Change of use from F2 (Community reading room) to class E (g) (i) (Office) with external alterations to fenestration. Data via plota.co.uk

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View original council record ↗Last checked 28 Oct 2026, 15:49

Application progress

✓

Received

9 Jul 2026

Decision

Expected by 9 Nov 2026

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. Plota predicted a decision around 29 Oct 2026; it is now day 112.

Documents

View the documents on the council's website ↗

Site constraints 9

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 ↗

North Ockendon conservation area

Demolition needs planning permission and permitted development is restricted.

The council must give weight to preserving or enhancing the area's character and appearance. Not every council has published its boundaries as open data.

Council document ↗

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), which most planning maps still show, had this area as grade 1. 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.

Archaeological priority area: Potential prehistoric deposits may be buried beneath gravel deposits.

An assessment or field evaluation may be asked for before ground works.

The council or Historic England considers archaeology likely here. A desk-based assessment, and sometimes trial trenching, can be asked for with the application.

Air quality management area: Havering AQMA

The council has declared the area as failing an air quality objective.

Schemes that add traffic, parking or combustion plant are assessed against the area's action plan and may need an air quality assessment.

Council record ↗

National infrastructure project about 426 m away: Lower Thames Crossing

The site is about 426 m from the project boundary. Highway, decided. The project page says whether consent was granted.

Nationally significant infrastructure projects (power stations, electricity lines, pipelines, major roads and railways, harbours, airports and reservoirs) are consented by a Secretary of State under the Planning Act 2008, after an examination by the Planning Inspectorate, rather than by the council. The boundary is the one the Inspectorate consults on and can change as the scheme does. Projects are shown within 2 km of the site.

Planning Inspectorate project page ↗

Habitat network: Network Enhancement Zone 1

Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.

Also on the record

1 listed building within 150 m of the postcode pin; Public transport access: PTAL 1b (very poor), TfL 2023, for the 100 m square.

Not affected

Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · 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 Planning Inspectorate, Transport for London (public transport access levels, Powered by TfL Open Data, OGL v3.0, contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2025) 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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Other new applications on this street

19 Aug 2026Approved

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Nearby new applications

19 Aug 2026Approved

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Important details

Council: Havering
Postcode: RM14 3QB
Received: 9 Jul 2026
Validated: 9 Jul 2026
Ward: Upminster
Case officer: Show
Target decision: 9 Nov 2026
Applicant: Show
Agent: James Atkinson unit

Decision outlook

Day 112, past the statutory target. 83% of changes of use in Havering are decided within thirteen weeks; extensions of time are common, and the council need not decide on the day. Last seen undecided on 28 Oct 2026.

target

predicted

Day 11256 days past the 56-day target

46%decided within 8 weeks

55%approved

117decided in the last year

Plota live figures for changes of use decided by Havering in the last twelve months, from validation. Havering decision record →

Historical activity at this location

2 nearby applications on record - archival context, not part of the live application.

Within ~100m

Nearby activity

2020 Approved

Glebe Barn Church Lane North Ockendon Upminster RM14 3QA

Reduce 4 trees at the rear of the property 30% crown reduction-deadwood and thin centre 1…

T0101.20 17 Aug 2020

2016 Refused

The Reading Room, Church Lane North Ockendon Upminster RM14 3QB

Partial demolition to facilitate conversion of reading room in to 2-bedroom 4-person dwel…

P1989.16 3 Feb 2017

Havering

Planning Authority Score

2.5/10

Poor

#251 of 296 councils

Relevant to this application:

Change of use

Havering is slower than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #202 out of 296. 47% of applications have the time limit extended, above the 41% national average. Havering is also one of the strictest councils - it refuses more householder applications than almost any other, with only 83% approved vs 90% nationally.

One of the strictest councils

only 83% approved vs 90% nationally

These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance

Havering decision statistics

Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026

74%

Overall approval rate

Below avg (87%) #290 of 296

83%

Householder approved

Below avg (90%) #262 of 296

56%

Decided in 8 weeks

Below avg (63%) #202 of 296

47%

Extended time limit

Above avg (41%) #207 of 296

42%

Minor dwellings approved

156 decided (1-9 homes)

83%

Major dwellings approved

12 decided (10+ homes)

29%

Change of use approved

101 decided

1,501

Total decisions

385 refused in the year to March 2026