Understanding planning · 13 min read
Planning application documents: what to read first
Understand planning application documents, officer reports and decision notices. Use a reading checklist, document table and worked example to inspect a case.
England · Local authority
Explore collected planning applications and decisions for Somerset Council. Search an address, application reference or proposal to find a record.
3,312 approved · 66 refused · 185 withdrawn. Most recent record check: 14 Oct 2026. Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.
Explore published planning boundaries and follow their source records for designation details. Coverage varies: an empty map does not mean there are no restrictions. Check the council’s current maps and documents before relying on a boundary.
Interactive planning map loads with JavaScript. Dataset sources are linked below.
Download Article 4 coverage for all authorities (CSV)
Data downloaded 14 Sept 2026. Display boundaries are simplified and indicative. Map record counts are not a complete count of designations or directions.
Sources: Planning Data conservation areas and Article 4 direction areas. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Land crossing over "The Swill", Doniford, Watchet, TA23 0TQ
Received Not publishedP83 land between South Drain & Vanity Rhyne, Westhay Heath, Meare, Glastonbury, BA6 9TT
Received Not publishedLand to the West of Lambrook Pig Unit, Lamyatt, SHEPTON MALLET, Somerset, BA4 6NX
Received Not publishedBrains Farm, Moor Lane, Wincanton, BA9 9RA
Received Not publishedP213 Land West of Heathway Drove, Meare Heath, Meare
Received Not publishedSaltlands Transport Depot Saltlands Avenue Bridgwater TA6 3JG
Received Not publishedCotford St Luke Primary School, Bethell Mead, Cotford St Luke, Taunton, Somerset, TA4 1HZ
Received Not publishedTorr Works, East Cranmore, SHEPTON MALLET, Somerset, BA4 4SQ
Received Not publishedLand off Nerrols Drive Taunton TA2 8QE
Received Not publishedAshlands C of E First School, North Street, Crewkerne, Somerset, TA18 7AL
Received Not publishedFormer Priory Bridge Car Park from Priory Bridge Road to, Priory Park, Taunton
Received Not publishedStanchester Sports Centre, East Stoke, Stoke sub Hamdon, Yeovil, Somerset, TA14 6UG
Received Not publishedP3 Land at Westhay Heath & Westhay Moor, Westhay Heath, Meare
Received Not publishedPodimore Recycling Centre Lower Dairy Farm Podimore Yeovil Somerset BA22 8LG
Received Not publishedChard Pupil Referral Unit (STEPS Centre), Bradfield Way, Chard, Somerset, TA20 2BG
Received Not publishedEast Coker Water Recycling Centre Yeovil BA22 9HP
Received Not publishedThe Laurels Day Centre, Avishayes Road, Chard, Somerset
Received Not publishedStaplegrove C of E Primary School, Hudson Way, TAUNTON, Somerset, TA2 6UP
Received Not publishedStanchester Community School, East Stoke, Stoke sub Hamdon, Somerset, TA14 6UG
Received Not publishedChilton Trinity School, Chilton Street, BRIDGWATER, TA6 3JA
Received Not publishedBlackbrook Primary School, Ashbourne Crescent, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 2RA
Received Not publishedThe former St Augustine School Site, Lyngford Road, Taunton, TA2 7EF
Received Not publishedSky College, Pickeridge Close, Taunton, TA2 7HW
Received Not publishedShipham Church of England First School, Turnpike Road, Shipham, Somerset
Received Not publishedRecords are ordered by application ID, not submission date. Use search to find a particular address or proposal.
View all applicationsStart with the address or application reference. Open a record to read the proposal, dates and available documents, then check the official register for the latest plans and consultation details. If nothing appears, check coverage before treating the result as a complete planning history.
How to search planning applications
Understanding planning · 13 min read
Understand planning application documents, officer reports and decision notices. Use a reading checklist, document table and worked example to inspect a case.

Understanding planning · 13 min read
Read planning drawings, floor plans, elevations and sections. Use labelled diagrams, a drawing comparison table and revision checks to understand a proposal.

Property research · 13 min read
Understand planning approval rates with an interactive calculator, worked examples and comparison table. Check sample sizes, outcomes and coverage before comparing.
These figures describe applications collected by PlanningTrack for Somerset Council, across all dates currently available. They are a partial dataset, rather than an authority-wide performance measure. The date range does not establish continuous historical coverage.
The approval percentage is approved records divided by approved plus refused records. Pending, withdrawn and unknown outcomes are excluded. No percentage is shown until there is an approved or refused record.
Check collection coverage