Planning Applications - How Long to Decide?
How long does it take to get a Planning Application decided in Bristol?
Apparently, it took 80 years for 94/10076/U/BDC to be Decided.
31 Years for 94/01282/L to be Decided.
And 8 Years for 17/05408/COND to be Decided.
Are these dates correct, or did someone in the Planning Department key them incorrectly?
How long should it take to process Planning Applications?
Time limits for a planning decision
The decision on a planning application should usually be made within 8 weeks for minor applications, 13 weeks for major applications or 16 weeks in the case of applications requiring Environmental Impact Assessments. This period runs from the date the application is made valid. If no decision has been made within this time and the applicant has not agreed with the planning authority a longer period to determine the application in writing, they may appeal to the Secretary of State on the grounds of non-determination in a similar manner to if the application had been refused.
How is Bristol Council Performing?
Planning performance 6-monthly briefing - Nov 2025
I have decided to exclude any applications that were Received before Jan 2020 in order to exclude the really old applications. Whilst I haven't included Applications Received before Jan 2024, older Applications will appear in this report if they were Decided after Jan 2024.
Planning Applications
You can see that there are some Applications received in Jan 2024 (2 years ago) that have not been Decided yet.
Oldest Application
The oldest application (20/01459/X) in my data set took 203 weeks to process.
The status of "Disposal" means that the application was closed by BCC because the applicant did not lodge an appeal within the allowed timescale. But why didn't they actually make a decision on this application for almost 6 years?
This application was accepted as valid on 31 March 2020 and to date, I can confirm that no further action has been taken or decisions made on your application. The council is permitted to dispose of applications provided more than 6 months have elapsed since you were first entitled to lodge an appeal, following the council’s failure to determine the application. The period for decision making in this case has now expired and no appeal has been made to the Secretary of State. Accordingly, it is intended to finally dispose of the application in accordance with Article 40 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015, and take no further action on it. Please note that there is no right of appeal against this decision, and if you wish to pursue the proposal you will need to submit a fresh planning application.
The application was actually submitted by Bristol City Council. Perhaps they changed their mind about making improvements for the Knowle West Children's Centre.
Quickest Applications
There are a lot of applications that are Decided on the same day they are submitted. The majority of these are applications for "Tree" works. Are these applications being properly assessed?
Many of them appear to be reasonable maintenance, but should application to fell mature trees have more consideration?
Time to Decide by Ward
These are the average time in weeks, that applications in different wards are active.
From this chart, it might seem that the "posh" areas get a better service than the rest of us, but that is not the case. We have already seen that "Tree" cases get processed in one day which means that wards with more trees, will have a better average then wards with fewer trees.
These are the wards with the most "tree" applications:
When I exclude "tree" applications, these are the average times:
Examples of Older Applications
Zero Car Development
24/02445/P has had revised plans submitted, which is part of the reason it is taking longer to process.
This is a good example of the approach to "zero car" developments.
Christine Townsend (Councillor)
I note there will be zero on-site car parking places but go further to ensure these new addresses, be those residential or commercial are forever excluded from gaining parking permits for private car storage on the street within any parking restrictions that might be introduced in this area in the future.
North Street is covered by the Southville residents’ parking scheme, although all roads south of this are outside of the RPZ. Residents’ will be restricted from obtaining parking permits for any future schemes within the area. No car parking is proposed for the site. The applicant will impose a restriction on students bringing vehicles to the site as part of the lease. This is considered to be unenforceable and therefore the council are unable rely upon this as a method for reducing car ownership. In order to fully mitigate the impact of parking from the development on the surrounding roads improvements to the local sustainable transport infrastructure is required as this will provide an alternative feasible option to the private car. Mitigation has been secured through other developments within this area for this purpose. Concerns are also raised regarding the lack of disabled parking. The BLPs Parking Standards state that a minimum of one disabled bay should be provided for halls of residence,meaning this does not meet policy DM23. The NPPF p114 states development should address the needs of disabled people. A disabled bay should be provided to address this concern.
From Garage to House
24/04108/F was submitted 60 weeks ago, and the Determination Deadline date was 13 Jan 2025. Why has this application sat on the shelf for over a year?
There are many more examples of delayed applications, which you can explore in more detail on BU Reports. Look for the Planning Performance button on the Planning Applications report page.
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