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Smithy Lane Farm 80 Smithy Lane Aughton Ormskirk Lancashire L39 6SS

2025/0920/PNCPrior Notification - Change of UseRefused
Prior approval

Refused on 23 January 2026

Council decision: PNC Details RefusedPrior Notification 56 days1 reason for refusal

Approximate site (title boundary)
Boundary © HM Land Registry, © Ordnance Survey · details

This information is subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 and is reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry. The polygons (including the associated geometry, namely x, y co-ordinates) are subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey AC0000851063. Conditions of use.

Proposal

Application for determination as to whether prior approval of details is required for the conversion of agricultural buildings to 4 residential dwellings at Smithy Lane Farm, Smithy Lane, Aughton.

Received
29 October 2025
Decision level
Prior Notification 56 days
Ward
Rural South Ward
  1. Received29 Oct
  2. Validated29 Oct
  3. Consult.30 Dec
  4. Target
  5. Decided23 Jan

Decided in 86 days (council typically 56)

About this application

This is an application to amend a permission at Smithy Lane Farm 80 Smithy Lane Aughton Ormskirk Lancashire L39 6SS. West Lancashire has handled 149 applications of this type. This one was decided in 86 days, 4 weeks longer than West Lancashire's typical decision time. The site is in a conservation area. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 115 applications across Rural South Ward. We hold 507 applications in total for the L39 postcode area.

69% of amendment applications at West Lancashire Borough Council were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 8 weeks (median).

Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.Planning something similar? See what gets approved on your street

Why it was refused

  1. The development does not benefit from permitted development under Part 3, Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 under the provisions of Part Q, as the proposed curtilage is larger than the land occupied by the agricultural buildings as defined by Part 3, Q3. The submission also fails to demonstrate all of the proposed dwellings would be provided with adequate outdoor amenity space and the design of the proposal would not be in keeping with the character and appearance of the area.

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode
L39 6SS
Application type
Prior Notification - Change of Use
Scale / size
Small
Parish
Aughton

Planning application dates

Date validated
29 October 2025
Consultation expiry
30 December 2025
Consultation start
9 December 2025
Consultation end
30 December 2025
Neighbour consultation end
28 November 2025

Applicant and agent

Applicant
Private applicant
Agent
Lichfields
Agent address
98 King Street Ship Canal House Manchester M2 4WU

Planning decision

Case officer
Kate Turner

Additional information

Planning Portal ID
PP-14436392
Documents
26

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.

  • Flood zone 3: High probability (rivers and sea)Part of the site
  • Green belt: West Lancashire

Not published by this council, so not checked: conservation areas, Article 4 directions and tree preservation orders. Ask the council if these matter.

Also checked, none recorded (20)

flood storage areas, listed buildings, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, National Landscapes, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.

A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.

Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences

Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.

© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved. Flood Map for Planning, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: West Lancashire

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