Planning decisions in Cornwall

How long Cornwall takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 3,595 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.

52 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 52 from receipt
82%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 95% within thirteen
94%approved (UK 89%): 1,923 approved, 126 refused, 153 withdrawn
154 of 322UK rank for speed, down 91 places on last year; 105 of 322 for approvals
056 September 2025: 54 days, 812 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 52 days, 921 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 51 days, 731 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 50 days, 773 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 21 days, 87 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 39 days, 203 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 52 days, 423 decisionsMarApril 2026: 50 days, 386 decisionsAprMay 2026: 53 days, 534 decisionsMayJune 2026: 54 days, 696 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 52 days, 701 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 54 days, 565 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 applications5579%96%1,10482 of 298
Tree works4892%87%572210 of 261
Discharge of conditions *5093%93%434100 of 178
Prior approvals2798%98%37528 of 174
Amendments3585%99%264104 of 271
Listed building consent5576%98%16666 of 200
Lawful development certificates5486%80%155177 of 256
Outline applications3678%79%1154 of 40
Reserved matters5658%100%2820 of 32
Advertisement consent *5592%100%27106 of 192

Appeals

295 appeals against Cornwall decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 234 for every 100 refusals; 32% were allowed. Every appeal in Cornwall.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5187%94%167
2017 *3490%98%59
2018 *3993%100%43
2019 *23100%100%32
2020 *3694%100%48
2021 *3991%100%32
2022 *4081%100%39
2023 *3887%100%38
2024 *5566%97%78
2025 *5474%97%90
2026 so far5281%94%3,595

* 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 Cornwall's planning register. Ranks are among the 322 published councils. See planning applications in Cornwall, appeals, or get alerts for Cornwall.

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.