Oxenham Court New Road Merton Okehampton Devon EX20 3EG Data via plota.co.uk

1/0046/2026/TCA - Works to Tree in Conservation Area Approved

Proposal

Works to trees within a Conservation Area - crown reduction of 1no. oak tree and felling of group of conifers Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
20 Jan 2026
✓
Approved
23 Feb 2026

Approved on 23 Feb 2026 · Delegated Decision · Last checked 9 Sept 2026

Site constraints 7

Grade II listed: Oxenham Court
List entry 1105035 · 1 m away · 5 more listed buildings within 150 m (1 Grade II*, 4 Grade II)
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 the other 5 with distances
Historic England ↗
Merton 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 ↗
Agricultural land, grade 3b
Not 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.
Habitat network: Network Expansion Zone
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Radon affected area, class 5
An estimated 10 to 30% of homes reach the radon action level. Indicative for the 1 km square, which takes the highest class found in it; a radon test gives the answer for a building.
From the British Geological Survey and UK Health Security Agency indicative atlas. Under building regulations, as the BRE guide BR 211 (2023) sets out, new buildings and extensions need basic radon protection from class 3 in England and Wales and from class 2 in Scotland, and full protection from class 5. The class at the site itself, from the detailed BGS map, decides which.
UKHSA radon ↗
Also on the record
Nature improvement area: Northern Devon; Scheduled monument 228 m away: Moated site at Grange Farm.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt

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.

Sales history 1

Last sold for £533,200 in November 2025. Other property, freehold.

27 November 2025£533,200Recorded as a transfer outside a standard sale

Sale prices from HM Land Registry's price paid record, matched to this application by its address.

Building

Floor area162 m² (1,744 sq ft)
Energy ratingF (22 out of 100), could reach C
PropertyDetached house, 8 habitable rooms
BuiltBefore 1900
HeatingBoiler and radiators, oil
WallsGranite or whinstone, as built, no insulation (assumed)

From the energy performance certificate lodged in May 2023, the latest held for this property. The building may have changed since. View the certificate

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Important details

Council
Torridge
Application type
Works to Tree in Conservation Area
Postcode
EX20 3EG
Received
20 Jan 2026
Validated
20 Jan 2026
Ward
Shebbear And Langtree
Parish
Merton
Case officer
Show
Target decision
3 Mar 2026
Decision
Application Approved
Decision date
23 Feb 2026
Decision level
Delegated Decision
Applicant
Show
Agent
Andy Winsbury Tree Work

How this decision compares

Decided in 34 days from validation, about the council's usual 35 days. Approved, as 95% of tree and landscaping works here are.

97%decided within 8 weeks
95%approved
39decided in the last year

Plota live figures for tree and landscaping works decided by Torridge in the last twelve months, from validation. Torridge decision record →

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 9 Sept 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-14637433
Planning Portal ref
PP-14637433
Statutory expiry
3 Mar 2026
Env. assessment
No
Torridge
Planning Authority Score
7.6/10
Good
#40 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Other decisions

Torridge is faster than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #55 out of 296. Householder applications are more likely to be approved here than most councils, with a 98% approval rate vs 90% nationally.

More permissive than most councils
98% approved vs 90% nationally
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Torridge decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
87%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #184 of 296
98%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #25 of 296
78%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #55 of 296
38%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #133 of 296
72%
Minor dwellings approved
155 decided (1-9 homes)
85%
Major dwellings approved
13 decided (10+ homes)
82%
Change of use approved
11 decided
554
Total decisions
71 refused in the year to March 2026

Sale prices: Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Energy performance: Energy performance certificates from the Energy Performance of Buildings Register, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright 2026.