Decision times · East Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Chesterfield
71 days. Ranked 278 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Chesterfield took 71 days from submission to decision — 15 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 169 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Chesterfield compares
Year to September 2026
Chesterfield takes longer than the country as a whole: 15 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 30%.
The average here is 112 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 250 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 51 30%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 44 26%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 74 44%
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 | 71 | 278 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 60 | 233 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 59 | 217 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 59 | 185 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 59 | 188 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 58 | 184 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 59 days, Chesterfield has moved down 61 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 16 decided 50 days
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Conditions 51 decided 64 days
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Householder 28 decided 71 days
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Full applications 39 decided 168 days
Common questions
How long does a planning decision take in Chesterfield?
The median planning application decided by Chesterfield in the year to September 2026 took 71 days from submission to decision, 15 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 169 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 278 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Chesterfield meet the eight week target?
30% of the 169 decisions Chesterfield made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 56% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 250 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Chesterfield faster or slower than average?
Chesterfield is slower than average: its median of 71 days is 15 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Chesterfield getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 59 days, Chesterfield has moved down 61 places in the table. Its median has risen by 12 days.
Cite these figures
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Chesterfield planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 71 days from application to decision (15 days beyond the eight week target), across 169 decisions with both dates published. 30% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 56% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 250 days. Ranked 278 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.