Withnell Fold Sports Club Withnell Fold Withnell Chorley PR6 8BA Data via plota.co.uk

26/00526/TCON - Tree Works in Conservation Area Approved

Proposal

Notification of works to a tree within Withnell Conservation Area - T1 mature Beech; remove dead branches and pollard to 5m Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
15 Jun 2026
✓
Validated
19 Jun 2026
✓
Approved
31 Jul 2026

Approved on 31 Jul 2026 · Delegated Decision · Last checked 31 Jul 2026

Site constraints 7

Green belt: Merseyside and Greater Manchester
Inappropriate development needs very special circumstances.
Green belt policy allows a short list of exceptions, such as limited extensions and replacement buildings. Anything else needs very special circumstances that clearly outweigh the harm. Some green belt land can count as grey belt, where it does not strongly serve the green belt's purposes. The council decides this in its green belt assessment or on each application, so we do not mark it here.
Read the government guidance ↗
Withnell Fold 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), 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.
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
Coalfield, development low risk area; Local nature reserve 487 m away: Withnell Fold.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · No listed building at the site · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 2026. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Mining Remediation Authority, 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
Chorley
Application type
Tree Works in Conservation Area
Postcode
PR6 8BA
Received
15 Jun 2026
Validated
19 Jun 2026
Ward
Chorley North East
Parish
Withnell
Case officer
Show
Target decision
3 Aug 2026
Decision
No objection to Tree Works
Decision date
31 Jul 2026
Decision level
Delegated Decision
Applicant
Show
Agent
Kai Findlay Arb

How this decision compares

Decided in 42 days from validation, 7 days faster than Chorley's median of 49 for tree and landscaping works. Approved, as 88% of tree and landscaping works here are.

89%decided within 8 weeks
88%approved
83decided in the last year

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

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 31 Jul 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-15011866
Planning Portal ref
PP-15011866
Statutory expiry
3 Aug 2026
Env. assessment
No
Chorley
Planning Authority Score
7.5/10
Good
#42 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Other decisions

Chorley is faster than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #49 out of 296. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (95%) than the national average (90%).

Faster than most councils
for householder decisions
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Chorley decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
93%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #51 of 296
95%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #73 of 296
78%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #49 of 296
35%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #100 of 296
95%
Minor dwellings approved
77 decided (1-9 homes)
100%
Major dwellings approved
4 decided (10+ homes)
73%
Change of use approved
11 decided
553
Total decisions
39 refused in the year to March 2026