Planning decisions in Cherwell

How long Cherwell takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,255 decisions it made in the twelve months to September 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.

56 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 63 from receipt
57%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 81% within thirteen
93%approved (UK 90%): 1,935 approved, 148 refused, 77 withdrawn
298 of 388UK rank for speed, down 162 places on last year; 153 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 54 days, 179 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 64 days, 149 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 56 days, 206 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 60 days, 172 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 65 days, 186 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 59 days, 196 decisionsMarApril 2026: 58 days, 163 decisionsAprMay 2026: 66 days, 174 decisionsMayJune 2026: 76 days, 213 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 73 days, 223 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 64 days, 194 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 70 days, 200 decisionsSept
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 applications6044%91%681201 of 359
Discharge of conditions6242%96%460259 of 310
Tree works3891%97%393154 of 324
Listed building consent6539%97%155199 of 307
Amendments3672%92%15395 of 356
Lawful development certificates5676%85%118279 of 348
Prior approvals3893%84%74195 of 340
Advertisement consent6836%97%39294 of 320
Section 106 and planning obligations *10230%100%2226 of 29
Outline applications *9113%40%1889 of 111

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%5692%1,940
Planning committee1%8870%21

Where the register states how the decision was made. 294 decisions did not say.

Appeals

52 appeals against Cherwell decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 35 for every 100 refusals; 29% were allowed. Every appeal in Cherwell.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *6145%89%191
2017 *2882%83%145
2018 *2974%89%158
2019 *6331%100%52
2020 *5651%98%42
2021 *2894%91%80
2022 *6632%100%31
2023 *6334%89%36
2024 *2695%98%59
2025 *6731%94%35
2026 so far6639%92%1,721

* 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 Cherwell's planning register. Ranks are among the 388 published councils. See planning applications in Cherwell, appeals, or get alerts for Cherwell.

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.