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Decision times · Wales

How long planning decisions take in Conwy

72 days. Ranked 280 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Conwy took 72 days from submission to decision — 16 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 546 decisions where the council published both dates.

72 days
Median decision 16 days beyond the eight week target
280 of 343
UK rank down 10 places in a year
30%
Within eight weeks 64% within thirteen
169 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Conwy compares

Year to September 2026

Conwy takes longer than the country as a whole: 16 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 96 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 169 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 164 30%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 188 34%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 194 36%

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.

Conwy: 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 72 280 of 343
June 2026 69 278 of 328
March 2026 70 215 of 243
December 2025 63 199 of 236
September 2025 69 270 of 324
June 2025 69 251 of 313
March 2025 71 269 of 315
December 2024 72 281 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 69 days, Conwy has moved down 10 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. Amendments 32 decided 36 days
  2. Conditions 84 decided 62 days
  3. Lawful development 21 decided 63 days
  4. Full applications 347 decided 77 days
  5. Advertising 16 decided 82 days
  6. Heritage and listed buildings 33 decided 103 days

How these types compare nationally

What Conwy decides

Year to September 2026

Conwy issued 546 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 87% were approvals: 473 granted against 72 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 Conwy?

The median planning application decided by Conwy in the year to September 2026 took 72 days from submission to decision, 16 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 546 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 280 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Conwy meet the eight week target?

30% of the 546 decisions Conwy made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 64% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 169 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Conwy faster or slower than average?

Conwy is slower than average: its median of 72 days is 16 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Conwy getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 69 days, Conwy has moved down 10 places in the table. Its median has risen by 3 days.

What proportion of applications does Conwy approve?

87% of the clear-cut outcomes Conwy issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 473 granted against 72 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Conwy planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 72 days from application to decision (16 days beyond the eight week target), across 546 decisions with both dates published. 30% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 64% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 169 days. Ranked 280 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 87% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.