Planning decisions in Tonbridge

How long Tonbridge takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 845 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.

56 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 68 from receipt
51%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 84% within thirteen
95%approved (UK 89%): 661 approved, 35 refused, 42 withdrawn
296 of 322UK rank for speed, down 56 places on last year; 75 of 322 for approvals
056 September 2025: 58 days, 351 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 56 days, 363 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 55 days, 282 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 60 days, 314 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 7 days, 3 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 42 days, 17 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 63 days, 65 decisionsMarApril 2026: 74 days, 132 decisionsAprMay 2026: 78 days, 151 decisionsMayJune 2026: 67 days, 166 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 70 days, 162 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 57 days, 149 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 applications6440%95%274253 of 298
Tree works4079%99%196141 of 261
Reserved matters6143%97%7529 of 32
Amendments5653%96%74256 of 271
Listed building consent7030%98%58175 of 200
Outline applications *6240%70%1329 of 40
Advertisement consent *6525%100%12179 of 192
Other *2780%90%1129 of 40

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%5795%801
Planning committeeunder 1%102100%1

Where the register states how the decision was made. 43 decisions did not say.

Appeals

17 appeals against Tonbridge decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 49 for every 100 refusals; 29% were allowed. Every appeal in Tonbridge.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5656%89%931
2017 *5749%98%109
2018 *5661%96%28
2019 *7040%100%25
2020 *12135%100%26
2021 *7239%97%122
2022 *8924%93%146
2023 *4759%82%105
2024 *4558%100%38
2025 *7727%97%64
2026 so far6838%95%845

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

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.