Decision times · South West
How long planning decisions take in Forest of Dean
57 days. Ranked 183 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Forest of Dean took 57 days from submission to decision — 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 656 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Forest of Dean compares
Year to September 2026
Forest of Dean takes longer than the country as a whole: 1 day above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 48%.
The average here is 70 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 124 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 314 48%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 225 34%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 117 18%
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 | 57 | 183 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 56 | 172 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 56 | 171 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 54 | 153 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 56 | 173 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 57 | 161 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 57 | 163 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 57 | 169 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 56 days, Forest of Dean 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.
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Amendments 18 decided 22 days
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Other 18 decided 28 days
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Trees 107 decided 31 days
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Outline 14 decided 54 days
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Conditions 96 decided 55 days
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Lawful development 34 decided 55 days
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Full applications 325 decided 69 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 37 decided 71 days
What Forest of Dean decides
Year to September 2026
Forest of Dean issued 656 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 94% were approvals: 548 granted against 33 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 Forest of Dean?
The median planning application decided by Forest of Dean in the year to September 2026 took 57 days from submission to decision, 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 656 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 183 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Forest of Dean meet the eight week target?
48% of the 656 decisions Forest of Dean made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 82% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 124 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Forest of Dean faster or slower than average?
Forest of Dean is slower than average: its median of 57 days is 1 day above the national median of 56 days.
Is Forest of Dean getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 56 days, Forest of Dean has moved down 10 places in the table. Its median has risen by 1 day.
What proportion of applications does Forest of Dean approve?
94% of the clear-cut outcomes Forest of Dean issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 548 granted against 33 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
Click the text to select the whole citation.
Forest of Dean planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 57 days from application to decision (1 day beyond the eight week target), across 656 decisions with both dates published. 48% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 82% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 124 days. Ranked 183 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 94% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.