Forge Cottage, Withyham Road, Withyham, TN7 4BD Data via plota.co.uk

WD/2026/1197/LDE - Lawful Development - Existing Use Refused

Proposal

The two paddocks to the north west of Forge Cottage are primarily used for private equestrian purposes for the benefit of the owners of Forge Cottage not agricultural purposes. This includes any activities required to manage the welfare of the horses. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
15 Jun 2026
✓
Validated
17 Jun 2026
✗
Refused
10 Aug 2026
Appeal
Not lodged

Refused on 10 Aug 2026 · Delegated · Last checked 7 Sept 2026

Site constraints 7

Grade II listed: Forge Cottage
List entry 1028063 · 11 m away · 4 more listed buildings within 150 m (4 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 4 with distances
Historic England ↗
Flood zone 3, rivers and sea
High chance: a 1 in 100 or greater annual chance from rivers, or 1 in 200 from the sea. Any development here needs a flood risk assessment. Defences are not counted.
The Environment Agency flood map for planning. Homes in zone 3 must also pass the sequential test. Surface water flooding is a separate map.
Flood map ↗
High Weald 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.
Withyham Conservation Area conservation area
Demolition needs planning permission and permitted development is restricted.
The council must give weight to preserving or enhancing the area's character and appearance. Not every council has published its boundaries as open data.
Council document ↗
Agricultural land, grade 4
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 3. 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: Restorable Habitat
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Also on the record
Registered park or garden 220 m away: Buckhurst Park.
Not affected
Not green belt · No scheduled monument at the site

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

Sales history 1

Last sold for £950,000 in October 2023. Other property, freehold.

4 October 2023£950,000Recorded as a transfer outside a standard sale

Sale prices from HM Land Registry's price paid record, matched to this application by its address.

Building

Floor area240 m² (2,583 sq ft)
Energy ratingD (56 out of 100), could reach B
PropertyDetached house, 10 habitable rooms
BuiltBefore 1900
HeatingBoiler and radiators, mains gas
WallsSolid brick, as built, no insulation (assumed)

From the energy performance certificate lodged in September 2023, the latest held for this property. The building may have changed since. View the certificate

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Important details

Council
Wealden
Application type
Lawful Development - Existing Use
Postcode
TN7 4BD
Received
15 Jun 2026
Validated
17 Jun 2026
Ward
Withyham
Parish
Withyham
Case officer
Show
Target decision
12 Aug 2026
Decision
Not Issue Certificate
Decision date
10 Aug 2026
Decision level
Delegated
Applicant
Show

How this decision compares

Decided in 54 days from validation, 26 days slower than Wealden's median of 28 for agricultural works. Refused, as 40% of agricultural works here are.

84%decided within 8 weeks
60%approved
92decided in the last year

Plota live figures for agricultural works decided by Wealden in the last twelve months, from validation. Wealden decision record →

Wealden
Planning Authority Score
4.2/10
Below average
#188 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Wealden ranks #132 out of 296 councils for householder decision speed. Householder applications are slightly less likely to be approved here (88%) than the national average (90%).

These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Wealden decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
84%
Overall approval rate
Below avg (87%) #231 of 296
88%
Householder approved
Below avg (90%) #227 of 296
69%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #132 of 296
40%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #156 of 296
66%
Minor dwellings approved
170 decided (1-9 homes)
78%
Major dwellings approved
32 decided (10+ homes)
74%
Change of use approved
82 decided
1,361
Total decisions
220 refused in the year to March 2026

Sale prices: Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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.