Planning Application Databases

GX2006 have researched and catalogued the Planning Applications made to the Eton Rural District Council (ERDC) up to 1937 and the Amersham Rural District Council (ARDC) up to 1925.

Databases of the various application are available at in searchable PDF format and sorted by date of planning application, by owner, by architect, by builder and by address. Start with the 'by address' version and look at the roads in your area. (NB. sometimes the entry you need is in an adjacent road.) Some of the properties have already been identified but many require your own research. It is quite likely that the original purchaser’s name will not appear in the planning database as many houses were built by developers who made the application and subsequently sold to the 'original purchaser' Also many houses were built and then rented, so the Directories may show 'occupier' rather than 'owner'. Search the 'by architect' and 'by builder' which may show if the 'owner' was an architect or builder. Then check out against the 'by owner', was this person, owner of a number of properties?

In order to read them, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded free from the Adobe website if you have not already got this program on your computer. Once downloaded on to your computer, use the search facility within Acrobat Reader to find the person, house or road name that you are seeking. If all the directories are placed into a single folder, you will be able to search all of them simultaneously.

You will need to use the magnification feature to read the data in the PDF. The column headings are: