Planning decisions in Cornwall

How long Cornwall takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 6,054 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.

51 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 51 from receipt
82%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 95% within thirteen
92%approved (UK 90%): 3,877 approved, 350 refused, 263 withdrawn
124 of 388UK rank for speed, down 61 places on last year; 190 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 52 days, 921 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 51 days, 731 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 50 days, 773 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 10 days, 360 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 36 days, 525 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 49 days, 746 decisionsMarApril 2026: 47 days, 655 decisionsAprMay 2026: 52 days, 664 decisionsMayJune 2026: 54 days, 789 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 49 days, 857 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 53 days, 655 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 55 days, 728 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 applications5577%96%2,13556 of 359
Tree works3796%88%860136 of 324
Discharge of conditions *5393%0%661149 of 310
Prior approvals2596%82%53347 of 340
Amendments3585%95%46082 of 356
Listed building consent5575%99%31757 of 307
Lawful development certificates5485%81%263202 of 348
Outline applications4076%75%20313 of 111
Advertisement consent5490%96%58125 of 320
Section 106 and planning obligations9919%97%4325 of 29
Reserved matters *5750%100%429 of 45

Appeals

304 appeals against Cornwall decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 87 for every 100 refusals; 30% 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 far5182%92%5,979

* 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 388 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.