Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Cheshire West and Chester
273 days. Ranked 342 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Cheshire West and Chester took 273 days from submission to decision — 217 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 61 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Cheshire West and Chester compares
Year to September 2026
Cheshire West and Chester takes longer than the country as a whole: 217 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 21%.
The average here is 331 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 547 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 13 21%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 6 10%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 42 69%
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 | 273 | 342 of 343 |
| September 2025 | 57 | 191 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 57 | 156 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 57 | 157 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 57 | 164 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 57 days, Cheshire West and Chester has moved down 151 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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Full applications 22 decided 403 days
What Cheshire West and Chester decides
Year to September 2026
Cheshire West and Chester issued 61 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 87% were approvals: 48 granted against 7 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 Cheshire West and Chester?
The median planning application decided by Cheshire West and Chester in the year to September 2026 took 273 days from submission to decision, 217 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 61 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 342 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Cheshire West and Chester meet the eight week target?
21% of the 61 decisions Cheshire West and Chester made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 31% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 547 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Cheshire West and Chester faster or slower than average?
Cheshire West and Chester is slower than average: its median of 273 days is 217 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Cheshire West and Chester getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 57 days, Cheshire West and Chester has moved down 151 places in the table. Its median has risen by 216 days.
What proportion of applications does Cheshire West and Chester approve?
87% of the clear-cut outcomes Cheshire West and Chester issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 48 granted against 7 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Cheshire West and Chester planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 273 days from application to decision (217 days beyond the eight week target), across 61 decisions with both dates published. 21% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 31% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 547 days. Ranked 342 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 87% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.