Planning decisions in Argyll

How long Argyll takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 829 decisions it made in the twelve months to August 2026. Days run from validation to decision, the clock the council reports against; the wait from receipt is shown beside it. How the figures are made.

49 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 58 from receipt
63%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 84% within thirteen
97%approved (UK 89%): 445 approved, 13 refused, 30 withdrawn
102 of 322UK rank for speed, up 170 places on last year; 29 of 322 for approvals
056 September 2025: 58 days, 147 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 59 days, 135 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 56 days, 101 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 56 days, 153 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 20 days, 37 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 36 days, 90 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 56 days, 78 decisionsMarApril 2026: 56 days, 107 decisionsAprMay 2026: 69 days, 129 decisionsMayJune 2026: 62 days, 128 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 65 days, 133 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 67 days, 127 decisionsAug
Median days from validation to decision, by month of decision. Dashed line: UK median (52 days). Grid at 56 and 91 days, the eight and thirteen week targets.

By kind of application

KindMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisionsUK rank
Full applications5555%99%268115 of 298
Prior approvals2196%96%23612 of 174
Listed building consent5843%100%52138 of 200
Amendments2478%83%5016 of 271
Tree works17100%100%3718 of 261
Outline applications *4767%100%2714 of 40
Advertisement consent *5360%100%1082 of 192

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%4997%800
Planning committee1%156100%5

Where the register states how the decision was made. 24 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 far5848%97%829

* 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 322 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.