There are plenty of recent planning applications readers should be aware of.

So that a new building going up does not take you by surprise, see this list for some of December’s most eye-catching proposed and approved plans.

Some have been proposed in the month, alternatively, they may have been approved or gone for consultation.

The five plans for the Watford area:

Apex House

Watford Observer: 363 studio flats would be created at the site.363 studio flats would be created at the site. (Image: Kosy Co-living / Watford Borough Council / Google Maps / Canva)

On December 5, a planning application was submitted to Watford Borough Council asking for permission to use land at 1 to 15 Bridle Path to construct a new tower block.

It would see Apex House - the current site of Apex Resources and Sapphire Coachworks - demolished to make way for a building containing 363 flats and an office.

The proposal is pending consultation.

Breakspeare School consultation

Watford Observer: The proposed site (outlined in red). Other part of the field set for sports pitches.The proposed site (outlined in red). Other part of the field set for sports pitches. (Image: Hertfordshire County Council)

Breakspeare School, currently in Gallows Hill Lane in Abbots Langley, is set to relocate to Croxley Green with the new site expected to offer 210 places.

The chosen location is the disused former Durrants School playing field and a consultation has been launched with detail of how the new building could look.

There is still time to have a say before plans are finalised.

Bushey Grove Road vacant storage units

Watford Observer: The storage units in Bushey Grove Road.The storage units in Bushey Grove Road. (Image: Google Street View)

Units 3 and 4 at 57 Bushey Grove Road are set to become seven residential units, made up of five two-bedroom flats and two studios, after plans were approved by Hertsmere Borough Council on December 20.

It follows adjacent buildings having already been converted, leaving the units as the last that remained in employment use at the site.

Kytes Drive

Watford Observer: Existing bungalows at Kytes Drive, Watford.Existing bungalows at Kytes Drive, Watford. (Image: PRP / Watford Borough Council)

Although residents had already been aware plans to demolish 42 buildings in Kytes Drive, Watford, the plan was added to the Watford Borough Council planning portal on December 7.

The bungalows, built with the intention of housing war veterans living with disabilities, would make way for 63 two-storey houses and an apartment building comprising of 71 dwellings.

While fewer veterans now live there, many residents are still people with disabilities.

The plans can be viewed by using reference 23/01097/FULM on the council planning portal.

Starbucks

A franchisee has applied to Watford Borough Council for permission to place Starbucks signs outside one part of the newly divided former Chiquito unit at Woodside Leisure Park, off the A405.

Starbucks has not confirmed it is opening a new location in the town, but the plan certainly suggests this.

After being submitted to the planning portal on December 22 the proposal is pending consideration.