Planning decisions in Dorset

How long Dorset takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 3,160 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.

41 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 42 from receipt
83%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 94% within thirteen
91%approved (UK 89%): 2,314 approved, 226 refused, 135 withdrawn
23 of 321UK rank for speed, down 15 places on last year; 162 of 321 for approvals
056 September 2025: 41 days, 525 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 41 days, 650 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 37 days, 466 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 37 days, 526 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 24 days, 66 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 30 days, 293 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 41 days, 450 decisionsMarApril 2026: 45 days, 479 decisionsAprMay 2026: 49 days, 397 decisionsMayJune 2026: 46 days, 521 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 45 days, 561 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 43 days, 393 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
Tree works2799%94%1,40042 of 259
Full applications (including householder)5470%92%862103 of 302
Amendments4177%86%251165 of 263
Listed building consent5568%95%23172 of 200
Prior approvals4292%61%153100 of 168
Lawful development certificates4682%80%15285 of 253
Advertisement consent5077%96%2744 of 190
Outline applications *7145%64%1632 of 39

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%4191%3,042
Planning committeeunder 1%8993%14

Where the register states how the decision was made. 104 decisions did not say.

Appeals

132 appeals against Dorset decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 58 for every 100 refusals; 33% were allowed. Every appeal in Dorset.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5948%92%529
2017 *4171%90%418
2018 *5654%96%97
2019 *7626%95%79
2020 *9415%91%60
2021 *1217%100%60
2022 *6341%95%68
2023 *5655%98%49
2024 *4977%93%71
2025 *5375%92%70
2026 so far4277%91%3,160

* Years from our archive, which carries no validation date: timed from receipt, so a few days longer than the live years above them.

Decided in the last three weeks

Built nightly from Dorset's planning register. Ranks are among the 321 published councils. See planning applications in Dorset, appeals, or get alerts for Dorset.

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.