Station Farm Station Road West Dereham King's Lynn Norfolk PE33 9RR Data via plota.co.uk

25/02158/LDE - Lawful Use Certificate - Existing Use Refused

Proposal

Application for a Lawful Development Certificate for the existing use of land for the storage of shipping containers (Use Class B8). The use relates only to the western part of the compound, as edged/red-lined on the application drawings, no other parts of the wider compound are included in this application. The land has been used continuously, openly and without interruption since before 2015 for the storage of approximately 15?20 standard shipping containers at any one time. The containers comprise typical 10ft, 20ft and 40ft units, each 8ft wide and 8ft 6in high, positioned on established hardstanding/farmyard surfaces within the western area. The units are not fixed to the ground and their positions may change within the western area to suit operational needs; there has been no abandonment or material change in the character of the use during the relevant period. Ancillary activities within the western area include customer access during business hours for depositing and collecting stored goods, the use of existing internal tracks based on historic farm routes for access and servicing, and site security via camera surveillance with limited lighting mounted on or near existing buildings. There is no commercial signage within the western area. No new buildings have been erected as part of this use; the containers are moveable chattels and not operational development, and no permanent engineering works are claimed. Any hardstanding and access tracks in the western area are long-established farmyard surfaces that pre-date the relevant period or form part of the existing yard Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
31 Dec 2025
✓
Validated
2 Jun 2026
✓
Consultation
3 Jun 2026
✗
Refused
23 Sept 2026
Appeal
Not lodged

Refused on 23 Sept 2026 · Delegated Decision · Last checked 25 Sept 2026

Site constraints 1

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) agrees.
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.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · 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.

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Important details

Council
Kings Lynn
Application type
Lawful Use Certificate - Existing Use
Postcode
PE33 9RR
Received
31 Dec 2025
Validated
2 Jun 2026
Ward
Denver
Parish
West Dereham
Case officer
Show
Target decision
28 Jul 2026
Decision
Not Lawful
Decision date
23 Sept 2026
Decision level
Delegated Decision
Applicant
Show
Agent
Seed Architecture

Public comments

1comment received
1 objecting

Last counted 25 Sept 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-14577389
Planning Portal ref
PP-14577389
Consultation
3 Jun 2026
Comments by
24 Jun 2026
Statutory expiry
28 Jul 2026
Env. assessment
No
Kings Lynn
Planning Authority Score
8.4/10
Excellent
#17 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Kings Lynn is one of the fastest councils in England for householder decisions, ranking #20 out of 296. Only 27% 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 (95%) 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
Kings Lynn decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
89%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #133 of 296
95%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #82 of 296
87%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #20 of 296
27%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #41 of 296
76%
Minor dwellings approved
261 decided (1-9 homes)
85%
Major dwellings approved
26 decided (10+ homes)
89%
Change of use approved
44 decided
1,216
Total decisions
131 refused in the year to March 2026