Decision times · West Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Cannock Chase
52 days. Ranked 65 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Cannock Chase took 52 days from submission to decision — 4 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 327 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Cannock Chase compares
Year to September 2026
Cannock Chase decides faster than the country as a whole: 4 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 82%.
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, 79 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 267 82%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 34 10%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 26 8%
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 | 52 | 65 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 52 | 77 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 51 | 84 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 51 | 118 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 53 | 118 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 54 | 83 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 54 | 84 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 54 | 82 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 53 days, Cannock Chase has moved up 53 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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Lawful development 34 decided 49 days
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Full applications 190 decided 53 days
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Advertising 17 decided 55 days
What Cannock Chase decides
Year to September 2026
Cannock Chase issued 327 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 89% were approvals: 284 granted against 34 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 Cannock Chase?
The median planning application decided by Cannock Chase in the year to September 2026 took 52 days from submission to decision, 4 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 327 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 65 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Cannock Chase meet the eight week target?
82% of the 327 decisions Cannock Chase made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 92% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 79 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Cannock Chase faster or slower than average?
Cannock Chase is faster than average: its median of 52 days is 4 days below the national median of 56 days.
Is Cannock Chase getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 53 days, Cannock Chase has moved up 53 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 1 day.
What proportion of applications does Cannock Chase approve?
89% of the clear-cut outcomes Cannock Chase issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 284 granted against 34 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Cannock Chase planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 52 days from application to decision (4 days inside the eight week target), across 327 decisions with both dates published. 82% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 92% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 79 days. Ranked 65 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 89% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.