Orient Close Nursery The Old Station House St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 1JD Data via plota.co.uk

Proposal

Planning Application for 2nr Portakabin Limited Solus SL102 Nursery Buildings for a 5 year hire contract. To be sited on the rear car park. Needed to accommodate the excess demand for nursery places at this site. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
25 Sept 2026
Decision
Expected by 20 Nov 2026

This application is under consideration - no decision has been issued yet. Plota predicts a decision between 17 Nov 2026 and 24 Nov 2026, from St Albans's recent commercial premises.

Site constraints 6

1 listed building within 150 m of the postcode pin
Nearest: Old Station House, Grade II, about 2 m from the postcode pin
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.
Historic England ↗
St Albans - Midland and GNR Railways 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 ↗
Local nature reserve about 248 m away: Watercress Wildlife Site
Work nearby can need a habitats assessment.
Harm to a protected site is only accepted where there is no alternative and an overriding public interest.
Also on the record
Inside the St Albans built-up area; Green belt about 76 m away: London; Priority habitat about 46 m away: Deciduous woodland.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 26 September 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
St Albans
Application type
PPOR
Postcode
AL1 1JD
Received
25 Sept 2026
Ward
Sopwell
Applicant
Show

Decision outlook

Day 10 of the 56-day target. St Albans usually decides commercial premises by day 55.

Day 1046 days to the 56-day target
57%decided within 8 weeks
76%approved
62decided in the last year

Plota live figures for commercial premises decided by St Albans in the last twelve months, from validation. St Albans decision record →

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
324076PLN
Planning Portal ref
15168681
St Albans
Planning Authority Score
1.1/10
Poor
#290 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

St Albans is one of the slowest councils in England for householder decisions, ranking #285 out of 296. The council extends the time limit on 64% of applications - one of the highest rates in England. Expect your application to take longer than the standard deadline. Householder applications are slightly less likely to be approved here (88%) than the national average (90%).

Among the slowest councils in England
for householder decisions
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
St Albans decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
87%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #180 of 296
88%
Householder approved
Below avg (90%) #226 of 296
29%
Decided in 8 weeks
Below avg (63%) #285 of 296
64%
Extended time limit
Above avg (41%) #278 of 296
74%
Minor dwellings approved
130 decided (1-9 homes)
61%
Major dwellings approved
18 decided (10+ homes)
77%
Change of use approved
26 decided
1,411
Total decisions
184 refused in the year to March 2026