Pontlands Park Hotel And Conference Centre West Hanningfield Road Great Baddow Chelmsford CM2 8HR Data via plota.co.uk

26/01335/FUL Pending Consideration
Change of useCommercial & major worksCommercial premises

Proposal

Retrospective temporary planning permission for 10 years for the construction of a stretched marquee structure on the existing patio at Pontlands Park for use as the Drakes restaurant. Data via plota.co.uk

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View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
1 Oct 2026
Decision
Expected by 26 Nov 2026

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. Plota predicts a decision around 26 Nov 2026, from Chelmsford's recent changes of use.

Comments are open until 6 Nov 2026

Comment on this application ↗

Documents

View the documents on the council's website ↗

Site constraints 2

Green belt: London
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 ↗
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. A site survey can differ.
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 · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 13 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
Chelmsford
Postcode
CM2 8HR
Received
1 Oct 2026
Validated
1 Oct 2026
Target decision
26 Nov 2026

Decision outlook

Day 27 of the 56-day target. Chelmsford usually decides changes of use by day 56.

Day 2729 days to the 56-day target
57%decided within 8 weeks
69%approved
68decided in the last year

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

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 26 Oct 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-15261360
Planning Portal ref
PP-15261360
Comments by
6 Nov 2026

Historical activity at this location

5 previous applications on record - archival context, not part of the live application.

This property

Previous applications at this address

2024 Approved
T6 Oak (marked T3 on map) - Crown reduction by 3 metres in height and 1.5 metres in sprea…
24/05109/TPO
2024 Approved
T6 Oak (marked T3 on map) - Crown reduction by 3 metres in height and 1.5 metres in sprea…
24/05109/TPO
2018 Approved
Single storey extension to provide a gym and new beauty roost to the Reflections Spa at P…
18/00367/FUL
Within ~100m

Nearby activity

2022 Approved
Little Faces Childcare Park Studios Pontlands Park West Hanningfield Road Great Baddow Chelmsford CM2 8HR
Retrospective application for use of buildings and land at Pontlands Park hotel as a chil…
21/02498/FUL
2022 Approved
Little Faces Childcare Park Studios Pontlands Park West Hanningfield Road Great Baddow Chelmsford CM2 8HR
Retrospective application for use of buildings and land at Pontlands Park hotel as a chil…
21/02498/FUL
Chelmsford
Planning Authority Score
7.4/10
Good
#45 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Chelmsford is one of the fastest councils in England for householder decisions, ranking #23 out of 296. Only 21% 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 (90%) 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
Chelmsford decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
87%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #167 of 296
90%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #188 of 296
84%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #23 of 296
21%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #19 of 296
76%
Minor dwellings approved
164 decided (1-9 homes)
88%
Major dwellings approved
8 decided (10+ homes)
79%
Change of use approved
52 decided
1,304
Total decisions
168 refused in the year to March 2026
Source: MHCLG planning statistics · See full council rankings