Redlake Farm Slough Lane North Wootton Shepton Mallet Somerset BA4 4HQ Data via plota.co.uk

2026/1649/AGE - Agricultural Notification Excavation Refused

Proposal

Prior notification of agricultural development: proposal to construct an earthed bank slurry lagoon. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
27 Aug 2026
✗
Refused
9 Sept 2026
Appeal
Not lodged

Refused on 9 Sept 2026 · Delegated Decision · Last checked 30 Sept 2026

Site constraints 6

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: Network Enhancement Zone 1
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Public bridleway 28 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.
Also on the record
Nature recovery project: Somerset Coast, Levels and Moors; Flood defence 22 m away (natural high ground, designed for a 1 in 5 year flood); Priority habitat 19 m away: Coastal and floodplain grazing marsh.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No listed building 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.

Work with planning data?

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

About Plota's data service

Important details

Council
Mendip
Application type
Agricultural Notification Excavation
Postcode
BA4 4HQ
Received
27 Aug 2026
Validated
27 Aug 2026
Ward
Mendip West Division
Parish
North Wootton Parish Council
Case officer
Show
Target decision
24 Sept 2026
Decision
Prior Approval Refused
Decision date
9 Sept 2026
Decision level
Delegated Decision
Applicant
Show
Agent
Brimble Lea

How this decision compares

Decided in 13 days from validation, 24 days faster than Mendip's median of 37 for agricultural works. Refused, as 36% of agricultural works here are.

84%decided within 8 weeks
64%approved
95decided in the last year

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

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 30 Sept 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-15157988
Planning Portal ref
PP-15157988
Statutory expiry
24 Sept 2026
Env. assessment
No