Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Ribble Valley
64 days. Ranked 253 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Ribble Valley took 64 days from submission to decision — 8 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 279 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Ribble Valley compares
Year to September 2026
Ribble Valley takes longer than the country as a whole: 8 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 41%.
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, 167 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 115 41%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 91 33%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 73 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 | 64 | 253 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 64 | 268 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 64 | 252 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 66 | 235 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 67 | 248 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 67 | 253 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 64 days, Ribble Valley has moved down 1 place 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 19 decided 25 days
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Trees 22 decided 27 days
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Amendments 18 decided 52 days
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Lawful development 27 decided 56 days
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Conditions 42 decided 57 days
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Full applications 120 decided 89 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 10 decided 91 days
What Ribble Valley decides
Year to September 2026
Ribble Valley issued 279 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 84% were approvals: 195 granted against 38 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 Ribble Valley?
The median planning application decided by Ribble Valley in the year to September 2026 took 64 days from submission to decision, 8 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 279 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 253 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Ribble Valley meet the eight week target?
41% of the 279 decisions Ribble Valley 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 167 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Ribble Valley faster or slower than average?
Ribble Valley is slower than average: its median of 64 days is 8 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Ribble Valley getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 64 days, Ribble Valley has moved down 1 place in the table. Its median has not changed.
What proportion of applications does Ribble Valley approve?
84% of the clear-cut outcomes Ribble Valley issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 195 granted against 38 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Ribble Valley planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 64 days from application to decision (8 days beyond the eight week target), across 279 decisions with both dates published. 41% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 74% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 167 days. Ranked 253 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 84% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.