Land At Friern Manor Farm Lower Dunton Road Dunton Basildon Essex Data via plota.co.uk

26/01005/SCREEN - EIA - Screening request Awaiting decision

Proposal

EIA Scoping Opinion Request for the introduction of an infrastructure application for 0.57km access road which will provide vehicular, cycle and pedestrian access for an employment site allocated as E5 in the emerging Regulation 19 Basildon Local Plan and brought forward under a simultaneous outline planning application with all matters reserved except access to the highway. It is proposed that both applications will be considered simultaneously. The proposed access road will also allow the future integration of the employment allocation with the Dunton Hills Garden Village immediately to the west together with the emerging residential development proposed to the south, allocated as H9 in the emerging Regulation 19 Local Plan. Both residential proposals will come forward at a later date. The importance of making this connectivity between emerging allocation E5 and the Dunton Hills Garden Village residential community is referenced in the emerging Local Plan and provides the opportunity to deliver an early phase of infrastructure supportive of growth in the area. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
16 Sept 2026
Decision
Expected by 7 Oct 2026

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. Plota predicted a decision around 9 Oct 2026; it is now day 23.

Site constraints 3

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 ↗
National infrastructure project: Norwich to Tilbury
The site is inside the project boundary. Electricity line, examination closed, recommendation due.
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 ↗
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.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · No listed building at the site · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 2026. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Planning Inspectorate 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

Council
Basildon
Application type
EIA - Screening request
Received
16 Sept 2026
Validated
16 Sept 2026
Ward
Laindon Park
Case officer
Show
Target decision
7 Oct 2026
Applicant
Show
Agent
Nexus Planning

Decision outlook

Day 23, past Basildon's usual 20 days for eia screening and scoping opinions. 98% are decided within thirteen weeks, so most likely by 16 Dec 2026.

Day 2333 days to the 56-day target
93%decided within 8 weeks
97%approved
1,442decided in the last year

Plota live figures for eia screening and scoping opinions decided across the UK in the last twelve months, from validation; too few recent eia screening and scoping opinions in Basildon to go on. Basildon decision record →

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 8 Oct 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Statutory expiry
7 Oct 2026
Env. assessment
No
Basildon
Planning Authority Score
4.8/10
Below average
#156 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Basildon ranks #145 out of 296 councils for householder decision speed. Basildon is also one of the strictest councils - it refuses more householder applications than almost any other, with only 84% approved vs 90% nationally.

One of the strictest councils
only 84% approved vs 90% nationally
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Basildon decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
87%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #165 of 296
84%
Householder approved
Below avg (90%) #253 of 296
65%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #145 of 296
32%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #63 of 296
80%
Minor dwellings approved
132 decided (1-9 homes)
82%
Major dwellings approved
11 decided (10+ homes)
85%
Change of use approved
53 decided
806
Total decisions
108 refused in the year to March 2026