Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Blackburn with Darwen
51 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Blackburn with Darwen took 51 days from submission to decision — 5 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 143 decisions where the council published both dates.
This council carries a figure but no rank
Not ranked yet: our records do not yet pass the historical coverage, monthly continuity, missing-date and refresh checks for this window. The figure above is still what the published dates say; it is left out of the league table so it cannot distort the ranking. See the methodology.
How Blackburn with Darwen compares
Year to December 2026
Blackburn with Darwen decides faster than the country as a whole: 6 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 62%.
The average here is 57 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 91 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 89 62%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 40 28%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 14 10%
By type of application
Year to December 2026 · types with at least ten decisions
The headline median mixes every kind of application together. A householder extension and an outline application for a housing site are not the same job, and the difference between them is usually larger than the difference between two councils.
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Trees 24 decided 12 days
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Householder 11 decided 29 days
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Amendments 12 decided 45 days
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Lawful development 10 decided 49 days
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Full applications 49 decided 58 days
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Conditions 23 decided 64 days
What Blackburn with Darwen decides
Year to December 2026
Blackburn with Darwen issued 143 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 97% were approvals: 134 granted against 4 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes sit outside that percentage rather than being counted as either.
Speed and approval rate are separate things. A council that refuses quickly is not doing the same job as one that negotiates an approval slowly, and neither figure alone says which served the applicant better.
Common questions
How long does a planning decision take in Blackburn with Darwen?
The median planning application decided by Blackburn with Darwen in the year to December 2026 took 51 days from submission to decision, 5 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 143 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Blackburn with Darwen meet the eight week target?
62% of the 143 decisions Blackburn with Darwen made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 90% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 91 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Blackburn with Darwen faster or slower than average?
Blackburn with Darwen is faster than average: its median of 51 days is 6 days below the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Blackburn with Darwen approve?
97% of the clear-cut outcomes Blackburn with Darwen issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 134 granted against 4 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Blackburn with Darwen planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 51 days from application to decision (5 days inside the eight week target), across 143 decisions with both dates published. 62% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 90% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 91 days. 97% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Or take the data itself: this council's history (CSV) or the full league table (CSV).
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<p>Data: <a href="https://planindex.co.uk/planning-decision-times/blackburn-with-darwen">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>