Planning decisions in Argyll

How long Argyll takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,506 decisions it made in the twelve months to October 2026. Days run from validation to decision, the clock the council reports against; the wait from receipt is shown beside it. Methodology.

52 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 60 from receipt
57%decided within eight weeks (UK 65%), 76% within thirteen
98%approved (UK 90%): 1,199 approved, 28 refused, 74 withdrawn
147 of 389UK rank for speed, down 92 places on last year; 24 of 389 for approvals
056 November 2025: 54 days, 77 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 52 days, 100 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 58 days, 102 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 61 days, 139 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 61 days, 109 decisionsMarApril 2026: 58 days, 135 decisionsAprMay 2026: 68 days, 140 decisionsMayJune 2026: 62 days, 132 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 60 days, 149 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 69 days, 151 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 59 days, 131 decisionsSeptOctober 2026: 64 days, 141 decisionsOct
Median days from validation to decision, by month of decision. Dashed line: UK median (54 days). Grid at 56 and 91 days, the eight and thirteen week targets.

By kind of application

KindMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisionsUK rank
Full applications6243%98%613208 of 361
Prior approvals1396%95%3089 of 339
Discharge of conditions3466%99%16215 of 311
Listed building consent6334%100%114180 of 316
Amendments2676%90%8418 of 358
Tree works2196%99%7523 of 324
Outline applications5749%100%5441 of 122
Lawful development certificates *4268%95%2457 of 348
Advertisement consent *4367%100%1612 of 325

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%5298%1,468
Planning committee1%14390%12

Where the register states how the decision was made. 26 decisions did not say.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *2965%90%41
2017 *6042%96%50
2018 *6539%100%40
2019 *4358%85%64
2020 *3863%83%51
2021 *5255%91%59
2022 *1691%93%131
2023 *4357%98%50
2024 *2961%91%118
2025 *2779%100%44
2026 so far6244%97%1,329

* Years from our archive, which carries no validation date: timed from receipt, so a few days longer than the live years above them.

Past their target date now

Decided in the last three weeks

Built nightly from Argyll's planning register. Ranks are among the 389 published councils. See planning applications in Argyll, or get alerts for Argyll.

About these figures

How are decision times measured?
Days from the date the council validated the application to the date it decided it, for applications approved or refused in the window. That is the clock councils report against and the official statistics use. Each council’s page also shows the count from receipt, which is what the applicant actually waited. Withdrawn and undecided applications are not timed.
Why do these figures differ from the council’s own?
Councils count an agreed extension of time as decided on time; we treat the calendar as the calendar. Our figures are also live and rolling, where official statistics are quarterly and annual. So a council’s own within-eight-weeks figure will usually sit a little above ours.
What counts as approved?
Approval rate is approvals divided by approvals plus refusals. Withdrawals, and decisions whose outcome the register does not state, are counted in the totals but not in the rate.
Why is a council missing?
A council is published when it has at least 25 timed decisions in the window and its register’s decision data passes our consistency checks. Councils that fail are listed with the reason rather than shown with a number that would mislead.
How often is this updated?
Nightly, from the decisions we collect from every council register we monitor. The window is the twelve months to the last complete month.