Field South West of Withersden and to the East of The Hermitage on Oxenturn Road Data via plota.co.uk

PA/2025/0601 - Lawful development Valid

Proposal

Lawful Development Certificate - Proposed reprofiling of a drainage ditch as part of an environmental improvement scheme. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
27 Mar 2025
✓
Validated
8 Apr 2025
Decision
Target date was 3 Jun 2025

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. Plota predicted a decision around 28 Oct 2026; it is now day 568.

Site constraints 5

Nutrient neutrality catchment: Stodmarsh SAC/SPA/Ramsar
New homes and overnight accommodation must show nutrient neutrality before approval.
Natural England advice: extra wastewater in these catchments harms protected habitats, so schemes must offset their nutrient load, usually through credits.
Kent Downs National Landscape
Great weight to conserving the landscape; major development restricted.
Previously an area of outstanding natural beauty, which is still the designation in law. Since 2023 authorities must seek to further its purpose, not merely have regard to it.
Public footpath about 3 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 1
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 2. 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.
Also on the record
Radon affected area, class 2.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 18 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 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
Ashford
Application type
Lawful development
Received
27 Mar 2025
Validated
8 Apr 2025
Ward
Wye with Hinxhill
Parish
Wye with Hinxhill
Case officer
Show
Target decision
3 Jun 2025
Decision level
Delegated Decision
Applicant
Show

Decision outlook

Day 568, past the statutory target. 94% of lawful development certificates in Ashford are decided within thirteen weeks; extensions of time are common, and the council need not decide on the day. Last seen undecided on 22 Oct 2026.

Day 568512 days past the 56-day target
80%decided within 8 weeks
83%approved
43,265decided in the last year

Plota live figures for lawful development certificates decided across the UK in the last twelve months, from validation; too few recent lawful development certificates in Ashford to go on. Ashford decision record →

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 22 Oct 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Ashford
Planning Authority Score
5.9/10
Average
#105 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Ashford is faster than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #75 out of 296. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (92%) than the national average (90%).

Faster than most councils
for householder decisions
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Ashford decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
88%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #147 of 296
92%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #146 of 296
75%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #75 of 296
40%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #146 of 296
71%
Minor dwellings approved
106 decided (1-9 homes)
89%
Major dwellings approved
18 decided (10+ homes)
90%
Change of use approved
40 decided
991
Total decisions
123 refused in the year to March 2026