Theatre Royal And Opera House Drury Lane Wakefield WF1 2TE Data via plota.co.uk

Proposal

Refurbishment of the theatre, including partial demolition, and the addition of a new second floor extension to the West Wing to provide new back-of-house facilities, an accessible entrance, a new accessible lift and stairs, and a new accessible scene dock. Demolition of existing ancillary spaces at the north end of the site and the addition of an enlarged rooftop plant space. External alterations include the addition of smoke vents to the existing roof, new smoke vents to the northern elevation and window replacements. Partial demolition of internal walls and floors, a new bar area, increased WC provision, a new dressing room, and a new studio. Alterations to the auditorium flooring rake, new seating, rearrangement of services and technical equipment, plaster repairs and redecoration of existing interior. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
20 Oct 2026
✓
Consultation
22 Oct 2026
Decision
Expected by 15 Dec 2026

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. Plota predicts a decision between 17 Jan 2027 and 29 Jan 2027, from Wakefield's recent commercial and major works.

Comments are open until 19 Nov 2026

Comment on this application ↗

Documents 22

All documents on the council site ↗

Site constraints 5

Grade II* listed: Theatre Royal
List entry 1258906 · 8 m away · 26 more listed buildings within 150 m (2 Grade II*, 24 Grade II)
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 the other 26 with distances
Historic England ↗
Coal mining development high risk area
Recorded coal mining features at or near the surface. Most planning applications here need a coal mining risk assessment.
From the Mining Remediation Authority, formerly the Coal Authority. The development high risk area marks recorded coal mining features at or near the surface: mine shafts and adits, shallow workings, mine gas and former opencast sites. Most planning applications there need a coal mining risk assessment; householder applications, changes of use and some minor works are exempt. Mine entry positions come from old plans and can be out by several metres, and unrecorded workings can exist anywhere in the coalfield.
Coal mining risk assessments ↗
Air quality management area: Wakefield City 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 ↗
Also on the record
Radon affected area, class 4; Inside the Wakefield built-up area.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 23 October 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.

Building

Floor area2,026 m² (21,808 sq ft)
Energy ratingB (asset rating 40)
UseD1 Non-residential Institutions - Primary Health Care Building
HeatingAir Conditioning

From the energy performance certificate lodged in November 2016, the latest held for this property. The building may have changed since. View the certificate

Work with planning data?

Every application in Wakefield - and every UK council - as a live feed, an API, or a bulk CSV export.

About Plota's data service

Important details

Council
Wakefield
Application type
Full Application
Postcode
WF1 2TE
Received
20 Oct 2026
Validated
20 Oct 2026
Ward
Wakefield North
Case officer
Show
Target decision
15 Dec 2026
Applicant
Show
Agent
AOC Architecture Ltd

Decision outlook

Day 8 of the 56-day target. Wakefield usually decides commercial and major works by day 97.

Day 889 days to the predicted decision (day 97)
29%decided within 8 weeks
94%approved
38decided in the last year

Plota live figures for commercial and major works decided by Wakefield in the last twelve months, from validation. Wakefield decision record →

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 23 Oct 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-15282219
Planning Portal ref
PP-15282219
Consultation
22 Oct 2026
Comments by
19 Nov 2026
Site or press notice
29 Oct 2026
Statutory expiry
15 Dec 2026
Env. assessment
No
Wakefield
Planning Authority Score
3.6/10
Below average
#217 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Wakefield is slower than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #223 out of 296. The council extends the time limit on 56% of applications - one of the highest rates in England. Expect your application to take longer than the standard deadline. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (95%) than the national average (90%).

Frequently extends decision deadlines
expect longer than the statutory limit
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Wakefield decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
92%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #95 of 296
95%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #94 of 296
53%
Decided in 8 weeks
Below avg (63%) #223 of 296
56%
Extended time limit
Above avg (41%) #256 of 296
89%
Minor dwellings approved
79 decided (1-9 homes)
92%
Major dwellings approved
24 decided (10+ homes)
85%
Change of use approved
74 decided
1,084
Total decisions
88 refused in the year to March 2026

Freehold boundary: © Crown copyright and database rights 2026, HM Land Registry. Polygons © Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey 100026316. Conditions of use

Energy performance: Energy performance certificates from the Energy Performance of Buildings Register, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright 2026.