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.
8,125 approved · 1,521 refused · 481 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 30 Sept 2010 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
1 Morris Lane Halsall Ormskirk Lancashire L39 8SX
Received 20 Mar 20232A Wigan Road Skelmersdale Lancashire WN8 8NB
Received 20 Mar 2023The Gables Plex Moss Lane Halsall Ormskirk Lancashire L39 8SS
Received 21 Mar 2023Co-operative Store 1 Station Road Parbold Wigan Lancashire WN8 7NU
Received 21 Mar 202315 Fern Close Skelmersdale Lancashire WN8 8DN
Received 20 Mar 202310 Granville Park Aughton Ormskirk Lancashire L39 5DU
Received 21 Mar 2023Site Of Former Otterbrook Moss Lane Churchtown Banks Lancashire
Received 21 Mar 202362 St Helens Road Ormskirk Lancashire L39 4QT
Received 21 Mar 202316 Whitefield Close Rufford Ormskirk Lancashire L40 1US
Received 22 Mar 202346 New Street Halsall Ormskirk Lancashire L39 8RS
Received 22 Mar 2023North West Turf Mickering Lane Aughton Ormskirk Lancashire L39 6SR
Received 22 Mar 2023Hundred End Farm Marsh Road Banks Southport Lancashire PR9 8DZ
Received 22 Mar 202370 The Common Parbold Wigan Lancashire WN8 7EA
Received 22 Mar 20235 Rowan Close Burscough Ormskirk Lancashire L40 4LP
Received 24 Mar 2023Scarisbrick Hall School Southport Road Scarisbrick Ormskirk Lancashire L40 9RQ
Received 23 Mar 20238 New Road Rufford Ormskirk Lancashire L40 1SR
Received 24 Mar 202310 Middlewood Road Aughton Ormskirk Lancashire L39 6RG
Received 24 Mar 2023Asmall House Farm Asmall Lane Scarisbrick Ormskirk Lancashire L40 8JL
Received 27 Mar 20234 Dyers Lane Ormskirk Lancashire L39 4RW
Received 27 Mar 202366 Ralphs Wifes Lane Banks Southport Lancashire PR9 8ER
Received 24 Mar 2023Rhodes Farm Wiggins Lane Holmeswood Ormskirk Lancashire L40 1UJ
Received 27 Mar 202331A Tower Hill Ormskirk Lancashire L39 2EE
Received 27 Mar 20231 Fern Close Skelmersdale Lancashire WN8 8DN
Received 28 Mar 2023Back Moss Lane Farm Back Moss Lane Burscough Ormskirk Lancashire L40 4BD
Received 28 Mar 2023Records 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