Decision times · East Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Peak District National Park
56 days. Ranked 151 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Peak District National Park took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 901 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Peak District National Park compares
Year to September 2026
Peak District National Park sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 51%.
The average here is 81 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 162 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 462 51%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 209 23%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 230 26%
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 | 56 | 151 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 57 | 202 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 57 | 179 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 58 | 184 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 56 | 169 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 56 | 121 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 56 | 116 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 56 | 117 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 56 days, Peak District National Park has moved up 18 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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Other 44 decided 29 days
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Trees 191 decided 34 days
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Prior approval 12 decided 49 days
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Lawful development 28 decided 52 days
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Conditions 163 decided 63 days
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Full applications 290 decided 66 days
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Amendments 70 decided 68 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 80 decided 76 days
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Outline 14 decided 94 days
What Peak District National Park decides
Year to September 2026
Peak District National Park issued 901 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 91% were approvals: 640 granted against 67 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 Peak District National Park?
The median planning application decided by Peak District National Park in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 901 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 151 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Peak District National Park meet the eight week target?
51% of the 901 decisions Peak District National Park made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 74% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 162 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Peak District National Park faster or slower than average?
Peak District National Park sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.
Is Peak District National Park getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 56 days, Peak District National Park has moved up 18 places in the table. Its median has not changed.
What proportion of applications does Peak District National Park approve?
91% of the clear-cut outcomes Peak District National Park issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 640 granted against 67 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
Click the text to select the whole citation.
Peak District National Park planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 901 decisions with both dates published. 51% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 74% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 162 days. Ranked 151 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 91% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.