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 West Lancashire Borough Council. Search an address, application reference or proposal to find a record.
7,997 approved · 1,497 refused · 474 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 1 Aug 2011 to 8 Oct 2026. 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Graylaw Freight Group Ltd Gillibrands Road Skelmersdale Lancashire WN8 9TA
Received 16 Dec 2022Land To North Side Of Turnpike Road, Aughton
Received 16 Dec 202243 Knowsley Road Ormskirk Lancashire L39 4RB
Received 19 Dec 202278 Crabtree Lane Burscough Ormskirk Lancashire L40 0RW
Received 14 Dec 2022Site Of Former Greaves Hall Hospital Greaves Hall Avenue Banks Lancashire
Received 19 Dec 202213 Rivington Drive Up Holland Skelmersdale Lancashire WN8 0HB
Received 20 Dec 2022The Coach House Park Lane Tarleton Preston Lancashire PR4 6JN
Received 20 Dec 2022Hesketh With Becconsall All Saints C Of E Primary School Shore Road Hesketh Bank Preston Lancashire PR4 6RD
Received 20 Dec 202286 Granville Park Aughton Ormskirk Lancashire L39 5DX
Received 19 Dec 2022Cobbs Clough Weir Cobbs Clough Road Skelmersdale Lancashire
Received 21 Dec 20226 Beech Road Aughton Ormskirk Lancashire L39 6SJ
Received 21 Dec 2022Swimming Pool, Gym And Student Union Buildings Edge Hill University St Helens Road Ormskirk Lancashire
Received 21 Dec 20224 Long Lane Aughton Ormskirk Lancashire L39 5AT
Received 21 Dec 20229 School Lane Westhead Ormskirk Lancashire L40 6HL
Received 22 Dec 20229 School Lane Westhead Ormskirk Lancashire L40 6HL
Received 22 Dec 20223 Gettern Farm Plex Moss Lane Halsall Ormskirk Lancashire L39 8SU
Received 22 Dec 2022Douglas Gardens Henry Alty Ltd Station Road Hesketh Bank Lancashire
Received 22 Dec 2022Arboleda 42 Ruff Lane Ormskirk Lancashire L39 4QZ
Received 22 Dec 2022All Saints Church Station Road Hesketh Bank Preston Lancashire PR4 6RZ
Received 21 Dec 202229 The Winsters Skelmersdale Lancashire WN8 8NG
Received 22 Dec 202220 Derby Street Ormskirk Lancashire L39 2BY
Received 22 Dec 2022Greenways Parrs Lane Aughton Ormskirk Lancashire L39 5BP
Received 22 Dec 2022Edge Hill University St Helens Road Ormskirk Lancashire L39 4QP
Received 22 Dec 2022Land Adjacent 4 Tunley Lane Wrightington Lancashire WN6 9RH
Received 23 Dec 2022Records 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 West Lancashire Borough 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