Entwistle Inns Ltd, STRAWBURY DUCK, 1 - 5 Overshores Road, Entwistle, Bolton, Blackburn With Darwen, BL7 0LU Data via plota.co.uk

10/26/0891 - Full Planning Application Pending Consideration

Proposal

Proposed change of use of land for the siting of 4 No. shepherd huts to provide additional holiday accommodation associated with the Strawberry Duck Country Pub Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
14 Oct 2026
✓
Validated
9 Nov 2026
Decision
Expected by 4 Jan 2027

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. Plota predicts a decision between 3 Jan 2027 and 11 Jan 2027, from Blackburn's recent changes of use.

Site constraints 9

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 ↗
Public footpath 12 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.
Agricultural land, grade 5
Very 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), 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: Lowland fens
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
2 listed buildings within 150 m
Nearest: K6 Telephone Kiosk Outside Entwistle Station, Grade II, 31 m away · 1 Grade II*, 1 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 2 with distances
Historic England ↗
Also on the record
Radon affected area, class 3; SSSI 334 m away: West Pennine Moors SSSI; Coalfield, development low risk area; Priority habitat 9 m away: Lowland fens.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 9 November 2026. 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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Important details

Council
Blackburn
Application type
Full Planning Application
Postcode
BL7 0LU
Received
14 Oct 2026
Validated
9 Nov 2026
Ward
West Pennine
Case officer
Show
Target decision
4 Jan 2027
Applicant
Show
Agent
Synergy Design Concepts Ltd

Decision outlook

Day 2 of the 56-day target. Blackburn usually decides changes of use by day 56.

Day 254 days to the 56-day target
54%decided within 8 weeks
81%approved
13%go to committee

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

Consultation & key dates

Statutory expiry
4 Jan 2027
Blackburn
Planning Authority Score
7.2/10
Good
#55 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Change of use

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