Planning decisions in Cherwell
How long Cherwell takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,239 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.
66 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52)
39%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 70% within thirteen
93%approved (UK 89%): 1,113 approved, 80 refused, 46 withdrawn
230 of 339UK rank for speed, up 26 places on last year; 112 of 339 for approvals
By year
| Year decided | Median days | Within 8 weeks | Approved | Decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 * | 61 | 45% | 89% | 191 |
| 2017 * | 28 | 82% | 83% | 145 |
| 2018 * | 29 | 74% | 89% | 158 |
| 2019 * | 63 | 31% | 100% | 52 |
| 2020 * | 56 | 51% | 98% | 42 |
| 2021 * | 28 | 94% | 91% | 80 |
| 2022 * | 66 | 32% | 100% | 31 |
| 2023 * | 63 | 34% | 89% | 36 |
| 2024 * | 26 | 95% | 98% | 59 |
| 2025 * | 67 | 31% | 94% | 35 |
* 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
- 2 St Johns House St Johns Road Banbury OX16 5HX1 Poplar - Removal to ground level due to a large split stem occurring overnight on the 15/01/26 – heavily ivy-clad lapsed pollard with thedue 24 Jan 2026
- Land At Banbury Road (B4100), Gaydon, CV35 0HL, *outside of area*The demolition of all existing buildings and erection of commercial/employment units within Use Classes E(g)(iii) (Industrial Processes), B2due 29 Jan 2026
- Street Record Sands Lane South NewingtonInstallation of 1 x 10M medium wooden poledue 30 Jan 2026
- Street Record Hazeldene Gardens BanburyInstallation of 4 x 10M light wooden poledue 10 Feb 2026
- Street Record Appleby Close BanburyInstallation of 2 x 10M light wooden polesdue 19 Feb 2026
- 3 The Row Bletchingdon Kidlington OX5 3BZT x 2 Laurel - removal because of excessive shading and low amenity value T x Cherry trees - removal because they are in the wrong place anddue 26 Feb 2026
- Street Record Church Lane MilcombeInstallation of 3 x 9M light wooden polesdue 27 Feb 2026
- Street Record Newcombe Close MilcombeInstallation of 5 x 9M light wooden polesdue 2 Mar 2026
Built nightly from Cherwell's planning register. Ranks are among the 339 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.