Planning decisions in South Derbyshire

How long South Derbyshire takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,195 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.

56 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 64 from receipt
64%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 82% within thirteen
93%approved (UK 90%): 1,052 approved, 80 refused, 41 withdrawn
278 of 388UK rank for speed, down 48 places on last year; 151 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 58 days, 89 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 63 days, 101 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 58 days, 107 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 56 days, 100 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 72 days, 68 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 76 days, 100 decisionsMarApril 2026: 69 days, 113 decisionsAprMay 2026: 72 days, 82 decisionsMayJune 2026: 69 days, 89 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 79 days, 129 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 63 days, 107 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 63 days, 110 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
Discharge of conditions5658%97%189222 of 310
Tree works4290%98%130203 of 324
Prior approvals3485%82%62146 of 340
Reserved matters7334%100%5518 of 44
Lawful development certificates5662%71%46295 of 348
Listed building consent5947%100%40149 of 307
Advertisement consent5277%97%3689 of 320
Amendments2877%87%3544 of 356

Appeals

29 appeals against South Derbyshire decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 36 for every 100 refusals; 34% were allowed. Every appeal in South Derbyshire.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *6333%86%73
2017 *6335%95%44
2018 *6036%92%208
2019 *6738%100%43
2020 *5564%94%72
2021 *6842%96%46
2022 *1686%100%36
2023 *9435%91%90
2024 *5653%88%86
2025 *5747%92%76
2026 so far6637%92%898

* 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 South Derbyshire's planning register. Ranks are among the 388 published councils. See planning applications in South Derbyshire, appeals, or get alerts for South Derbyshire.

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.