Pigeon House Farm Whitchurch Road Handley Chester CH3 9DT Data via plota.co.uk

26/02923/PDR - Agri buildings to flexi commercial use Awaiting decision

Proposal

Change of use of three agricultural buildings to flexible commercial use (Class B8 and Class E(g)(iii)) Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
15 Sept 2026
Decision
Expected by 10 Nov 2026

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. Plota predicts a decision between 10 Nov 2026 and 2 Dec 2026, from Chester's recent changes of use.

Comments are open until 19 Oct 2026

Comment on this application ↗

Site constraints 4

Agricultural land, grade 3a
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.
2 listed buildings within 150 m of the postcode pin
Nearest: Handley Oak, Grade II, about 61 m from the postcode pin · 2 Grade II
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.
Show all 2 with distances
Historic England ↗
Also on the record
Radon affected area, class 4.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 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, 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

Council
Chester
Application type
Agri buildings to flexi commercial use
Postcode
CH3 9DT
Received
15 Sept 2026
Validated
15 Sept 2026
Ward
Tattenhall
Parish
Handley
Applicant
Show

Decision outlook

Day 24 of the 56-day target. Chester usually decides changes of use by day 72.

Day 2448 days to the predicted decision (day 72)
45%decided within 8 weeks
68%approved
62decided in the last year

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

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 6 Oct 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-15225122
Planning Portal ref
PP-15225122
Comments by
19 Oct 2026
Env. assessment
No