Decision times · East Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Derbyshire Dales
94 days. Ranked 320 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Derbyshire Dales took 94 days from submission to decision — 38 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 342 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Derbyshire Dales compares
Year to September 2026
Derbyshire Dales takes longer than the country as a whole: 38 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 125 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 257 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 101 30%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 65 19%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 176 51%
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 | 94 | 320 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 121 | 323 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 179 | 236 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 177 | 227 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 57 | 192 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 56 | 122 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 56 | 117 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 56 | 118 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 57 days, Derbyshire Dales has moved down 128 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 32 decided 35 days
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Conditions 74 decided 106 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 40 decided 109 days
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Full applications 141 decided 111 days
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Amendments 29 decided 139 days
What Derbyshire Dales decides
Year to September 2026
Derbyshire Dales issued 342 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 84% were approvals: 215 granted against 41 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 Derbyshire Dales?
The median planning application decided by Derbyshire Dales in the year to September 2026 took 94 days from submission to decision, 38 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 342 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 320 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Derbyshire Dales meet the eight week target?
30% of the 342 decisions Derbyshire Dales made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 49% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 257 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Derbyshire Dales faster or slower than average?
Derbyshire Dales is slower than average: its median of 94 days is 38 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Derbyshire Dales getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 57 days, Derbyshire Dales has moved down 128 places in the table. Its median has risen by 37 days.
What proportion of applications does Derbyshire Dales approve?
84% of the clear-cut outcomes Derbyshire Dales issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 215 granted against 41 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Derbyshire Dales planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 94 days from application to decision (38 days beyond the eight week target), across 342 decisions with both dates published. 30% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 49% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 257 days. Ranked 320 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 84% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.