Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Blackburn with Darwen
51 days. Ranked 49 of 343.
In the year to September 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.
How Blackburn with Darwen compares
Year to September 2026
Blackburn with Darwen decides faster than the country as a whole: 5 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% 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%
The last few years
Each row is a full twelve months of decisions, ending in the quarter shown
Rolling twelve month windows overlap by nine months, so this reads as a trend rather than as four separate quarters. Only windows our records reach far enough back to measure in full are listed.
| Twelve months to | Median days | UK rank |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 51 | 49 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 51 | 63 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 28 | 2 of 243 |
| September 2025 | 53 | 116 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 55 | 103 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 55 | 105 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 55 | 104 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 53 days, Blackburn with Darwen has moved up 67 places in the table.
By type of application
Year to September 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 September 2026
Blackburn with Darwen issued 143 decisions in the year to September 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 September 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. It ranks 49 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Blackburn with Darwen meet the eight week target?
62% of the 143 decisions Blackburn with Darwen made in the year to September 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 5 days below the national median of 56 days.
Is Blackburn with Darwen getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 53 days, Blackburn with Darwen has moved up 67 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 2 days.
What proportion of applications does Blackburn with Darwen approve?
97% of the clear-cut outcomes Blackburn with Darwen issued in the year to September 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 September 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. Ranked 49 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 97% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.