Mower Meadow (Formerly Whetlands) Mower Meadow Blindmoor Lane Buckland St Mary TA20 3RF Data via plota.co.uk

26/01503/FUL - Full Application Approved

Proposal

Change of use of land for the installation of an unlined wildlife pond with maximum dimensions approximately 19m x 18m (RETROSPECTIVE) Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
30 Jun 2026
✓
Validated
20 Jul 2026
✓
Approved
14 Sept 2026

Approved on 14 Sept 2026 · Delegated (Use on Recommendations) · Last checked 15 Sept 2026

Site constraints 6

Nutrient neutrality catchment: River Axe SAC
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.
Blackdown Hills 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.
Agricultural land, grade 2
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 4. 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.
Public bridleway 25 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.
Habitat network: Network Expansion Zone
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Also on the record
Radon affected area, class 2.
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, 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

Application type
Full Application
Postcode
TA20 3RF
Received
30 Jun 2026
Validated
20 Jul 2026
Ward
CHARD NORTH
Parish
Buckland St Mary
Target decision
14 Sept 2026
Decision
Application Permitted with Conditions
Decision date
14 Sept 2026
Decision level
Delegated (Use on Recommendations)
Applicant
Show

How this decision compares

Decided in 56 days from validation, 4 days slower than South Somerset's median of 52 for changes of use. Approved, as 93% of changes of use here are.

62%decided within 8 weeks
93%approved
99decided in the last year

Plota live figures for changes of use decided by South Somerset in the last twelve months, from validation. South Somerset decision record →

Public comments

1comment received
1 supporting

6 neighbours consulted · Last counted 15 Sept 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-15027757
Planning Portal ref
PP-15027757
Statutory expiry
14 Sept 2026
Env. assessment
No