Planning decisions in Snowdonia

How long Snowdonia takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 82 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.

55 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 55 from receipt

56%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 92% within thirteen

89%approved (UK 89%): 59 approved, 7 refused, 4 withdrawn

248 of 321UK rank for speed, up 50 places on last year; 190 of 321 for approvals

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

Kind	Median days	Within 8 weeks	Approved	Decisions	UK rank
Full applications (including householder)	56	52%	96%	50	162 of 302

Delegated or committee

Route	Share	Median days	Approved	Decisions
Delegated to officers	98%	55	89%	80
Planning committee	2%	56	100%	2

Where the register states how the decision was made.

By year

Year decided	Median days	Within 8 weeks	Approved	Decisions
2016 *	42	85%	94%	67
2017 *	44	71%	93%	30
2018 *	67	38%	97%	36
2019 *	42	76%	94%	35
2020 *	55	55%	88%	253
2021 *	46	61%	97%	33
2022 *	76	40%	92%	61
2023 *	55	51%	94%	53
2024 *	158	10%	98%	51
2025 *	131	13%	92%	40
2026 so far	55	56%	89%	82

* 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

Gelli Dywyll, Cwm Cynfal, Llan Ffestiniog. LL41 4RA
Demolition of existing dwelling and lean-to and the erection of a new replacement 2 storey dwelling and installation of septic tank (Re-subm
Refused9 Sept 2026

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

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 Withdrawn and undecided applications are not timed.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.