Decision times · South West
How long planning decisions take in Forest of Dean
56 days. Ranked 20 of 45.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Forest of Dean took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 668 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Forest of Dean compares
Year to December 2026
Forest of Dean decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 51%.
The average here is 71 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 132 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 344 51%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 196 29%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 128 19%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| December 2026 | 56 | 20 of 45 |
| September 2026 | 56 | 28 of 56 |
By type of application
Year to December 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 13 decided 21 days
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Other 13 decided 28 days
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Trees 106 decided 32 days
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Lawful development 24 decided 52 days
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Conditions 79 decided 55 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 36 decided 65 days
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Full applications 322 decided 67 days
What Forest of Dean decides
Year to December 2026
Forest of Dean issued 668 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 95% were approvals: 555 granted against 30 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 December 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 668 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 20 of 45 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Forest of Dean meet the eight week target?
51% of the 668 decisions Forest of Dean made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 81% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 132 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 faster than average: its median of 56 days is 1 day below the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Forest of Dean approve?
95% of the clear-cut outcomes Forest of Dean issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 555 granted against 30 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Forest of Dean planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 668 decisions with both dates published. 51% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 81% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 132 days. Ranked 20 of 45 UK councils on decision speed (national median 57 days). 95% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Or take the data itself: this council's history (CSV) or the full league table (CSV).
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