Land to the north of Bolton Road Abbey Village Blackburn BB3 0NE Data via plota.co.uk

10/26/0571 - Prior Approval - Agricultural Building Approved

Proposal

Erection of agricultural building and creation of agricultural track and hardstanding Data via plota.co.uk

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View original council record ↗Last checked 1 Oct 2026, 00:11

Application progress

✓

Received

24 Jun 2026

✓

Approved

25 Aug 2026

Approved on 25 Aug 2026 · Last checked 30 Sept 2026

Documents 6

Site constraints 6

Green belt: Merseyside and Greater Manchester

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 ↗

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), which most planning maps still show, had this area as grade 4. 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 Enhancement Zone 2

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

4 listed buildings within 150 m of the postcode pin

Nearest: Barn Circa 30 Metres North West of Higher Crow Trees, Grade II, about 44 m from the postcode pin · 4 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

44 mBarn Circa 30 Metres North West of Higher Crow TreesGrade II
46 mBarn Circa 50 Metres South of Lower Crow TreesGrade II
60 mHigher Crow TreesGrade II
83 mLower Crow TreesGrade II

Historic England ↗

Also on the record

Radon affected area, class 2; Coalfield, development low risk area.

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 Mining Remediation Authority, 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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27 Mar 2026Pending

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Important details

Council: Blackburn
Application type: Prior Approval - Agricultural Building
Postcode: BB3 0NE
Received: 24 Jun 2026
Validated: 24 Jun 2026
Case officer: Show
Target decision: 22 Jul 2026
Decision: Prior Approval is Given
Decision date: 25 Aug 2026
Applicant: Show
Agent: Macmarshalls Ltd

How this decision compares

Decided in 62 days from validation, 6 days slower than Blackburn's median of 56 for prior approvals. Approved, as 92% of prior approvals here are.

This one62d

Council56d

UK33d

65%decided within 8 weeks

92%approved

12%go to committee

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

Consultation & key dates

Statutory expiry: 22 Jul 2026

Historical activity at this location

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

Within ~100m

Nearby activity

2021 Approved

The Barn Lower Crow Trees Farm Chapels Lane Tockholes Darwen BB3 0NB

Erection of a side extension and replacement of windows, fascias, cladding and rainwater…

10/21/0215 17 May 2021

2021 Approved

The Barn Lower Crow Trees Farm Chapels Lane Tockholes Darwen BB3 0NB

Listed Building Consent for side extension and replacement of windows, fascias, cladding…

10/21/0228 17 May 2021

Blackburn

Planning Authority Score

7.2/10

Good

#55 of 296 councils

Relevant to this application:

Householder decisions

Blackburn is faster than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #90 out of 296. 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

Blackburn decision statistics

Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026

96%

Overall approval rate

Above avg (87%) #7 of 296

98%

Householder approved

Above avg (90%) #10 of 296

73%

Decided in 8 weeks

Above avg (63%) #90 of 296

40%

Extended time limit

Below avg (41%) #147 of 296

88%

Minor dwellings approved

40 decided (1-9 homes)

100%

Major dwellings approved

7 decided (10+ homes)

86%

Change of use approved

56 decided

519

Total decisions

23 refused in the year to March 2026

Land to the north of Bolton Road Abbey Village Blackburn BB3 0NE Data via plota.co.uk

Proposal

Application progress

Documents 6

Decision & officer reports 2

Statements & assessments 1

Plans & drawings 1

Application forms 1

Consultation & comments 1