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Decision times · North West

How long planning decisions take in Chorley

74 days. Ranked 284 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Chorley took 74 days from submission to decision — 18 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 211 decisions where the council published both dates.

74 days
Median decision 18 days beyond the eight week target
284 of 343
UK rank down 87 places in a year
31%
Within eight weeks 59% within thirteen
221 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Chorley compares

Year to September 2026

Chorley takes longer than the country as a whole: 18 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 31%.

The average here is 125 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 221 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 65 31%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 59 28%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 87 41%

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.

Chorley: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
September 2026 74 284 of 343
June 2026 62 245 of 328
September 2025 57 197 of 324
June 2025 57 159 of 313
March 2025 57 161 of 315
December 2024 57 168 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 57 days, Chorley has moved down 87 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.

  1. Lawful development 20 decided 57 days
  2. Householder 48 decided 58 days
  3. Trees 12 decided 58 days
  4. Conditions 31 decided 100 days
  5. Full applications 57 decided 114 days
  6. Outline 20 decided 150 days

How these types compare nationally

What Chorley decides

Year to September 2026

Chorley issued 211 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 86% were approvals: 139 granted against 23 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 Chorley?

The median planning application decided by Chorley in the year to September 2026 took 74 days from submission to decision, 18 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 211 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 284 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Chorley meet the eight week target?

31% of the 211 decisions Chorley made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 59% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 221 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Chorley faster or slower than average?

Chorley is slower than average: its median of 74 days is 18 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Chorley getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 57 days, Chorley has moved down 87 places in the table. Its median has risen by 17 days.

What proportion of applications does Chorley approve?

86% of the clear-cut outcomes Chorley issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 139 granted against 23 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Chorley planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 74 days from application to decision (18 days beyond the eight week target), across 211 decisions with both dates published. 31% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 59% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 221 days. Ranked 284 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 86% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.