Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Rossendale
84 days. Ranked 314 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Rossendale took 84 days from submission to decision — 28 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 121 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Rossendale compares
Year to September 2026
Rossendale takes longer than the country as a whole: 28 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 21%.
The average here is 114 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 231 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 26 21%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 42 35%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 53 44%
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 | 84 | 314 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 79 | 305 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 70 | 279 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 66 | 237 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 66 | 244 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 66 | 250 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 70 days, Rossendale has moved down 35 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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Householder 25 decided 84 days
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Conditions 31 decided 100 days
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Full applications 30 decided 101 days
What Rossendale decides
Year to September 2026
Rossendale issued 121 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 88% were approvals: 90 granted against 12 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 Rossendale?
The median planning application decided by Rossendale in the year to September 2026 took 84 days from submission to decision, 28 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 121 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 314 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Rossendale meet the eight week target?
21% of the 121 decisions Rossendale made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 56% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 231 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Rossendale faster or slower than average?
Rossendale is slower than average: its median of 84 days is 28 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Rossendale getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 70 days, Rossendale has moved down 35 places in the table. Its median has risen by 14 days.
What proportion of applications does Rossendale approve?
88% of the clear-cut outcomes Rossendale issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 90 granted against 12 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Rossendale planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 84 days from application to decision (28 days beyond the eight week target), across 121 decisions with both dates published. 21% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 56% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 231 days. Ranked 314 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 88% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.