Black Chapel Black Chapel Lane Great Waltham Dunmow CM6 3PH Data via plota.co.uk

26/00634/FUL Refused

Proposal

Retrospective application for the extension of an existing private parking area with associated operational development and engineering works. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
15 May 2026
✗
Refused
15 Jul 2026
Appeal
Not lodged

Refused on 15 Jul 2026 · Last checked 18 Sept 2026

Site constraints 3

5 listed buildings within 150 m of the postcode pin
Nearest: Cottage About 300 Yards North East of Black Chapel, Grade II, about 2 m from the postcode pin · 5 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 5 with distances
Historic England ↗
Agricultural land, grade 3a
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
Open access land about 48 m away: Access Land - Combined Open Country, Registered Common Land and Section 16 Dedicated Land. MoD Byelaw, Section 28 Exclusions, Racecourses and Aerodromes and ECP Margin have been removed..
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 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 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
Chelmsford
Postcode
CM6 3PH
Received
15 May 2026
Validated
15 May 2026
Target decision
14 Jul 2026
Decision date
15 Jul 2026

How this decision compares

Decided in 61 days from validation, 5 days slower than Chelmsford's median of 56 for commercial and major works. Refused, as 33% of commercial and major works here are.

52%decided within 8 weeks
67%approved
32decided in the last year

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

Public comments

3comments received
2 objecting1 supporting

67% object · below the UK average of 74%

Last counted 18 Sept 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-14929200
Planning Portal ref
PP-14929200
Comments by
13 Jul 2026
Chelmsford
Planning Authority Score
7.4/10
Good
#45 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Chelmsford is one of the fastest councils in England for householder decisions, ranking #23 out of 296. Only 21% of applications have the time limit extended, well below the 41% national average - the council usually decides on time. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (90%) than the national average (90%).

Among the fastest councils in England
for householder decisions
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Chelmsford decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
87%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #167 of 296
90%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #188 of 296
84%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #23 of 296
21%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #19 of 296
76%
Minor dwellings approved
164 decided (1-9 homes)
88%
Major dwellings approved
8 decided (10+ homes)
79%
Change of use approved
52 decided
1,304
Total decisions
168 refused in the year to March 2026