Planning permission in North Somerset
What actually happens to planning applications decided by North Somerset Council: approval rates, decision times, appeal odds and the development plan they are judged against. Figures cover 4,159 applications decided in the two years to July 2026, from the council's public planning register.
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How long does planning permission take in North Somerset?
Half of decided applications took 55 days or less from validation to decision. The middle 50% of applications took between 43 and 66 days, and 62.4% were decided inside the 8-week statutory target for minor applications. Complex or contested schemes take longer.
The North Somerset local plan
The development plan is the Core Strategy (2012, with remitted policies readopted in 2015 and 2017) plus the Sites and Policies Plan parts 1 (2016) and 2 (2018) and seven made neighbourhood plans.
The North Somerset Local Plan 2041 was submitted for examination in May 2026 following Regulation 19 consultation; it is a material consideration but not yet adopted.
What tends to shape decisions here: Appeals have found the council unable to demonstrate a five year housing land supply (around 2.8 years), so the tilted balance is engaged district-wide. The North Somerset and Mendip Bats Special Area of Conservation is the key ecological constraint, alongside Green Belt in the north east of the district.
If North Somerset says no: appeal odds
Between 2021 and 2025 the Planning Inspectorate overturned 23.4% of appealed North Somerset refusals (51 of 218 decided appeals). The national average is 31.1%. More detail, including how North Somerset ranks nationally: planning appeals in North Somerset.
Source: decisions published on the North Somerset Council public planning register, two years to July 2026. Approval rate = approvals divided by approvals plus refusals; withdrawn applications and other outcomes are excluded. We track 14,570 North Somerset applications in total. Plan facts as of July 2026; always check the council's own pages for the latest position.
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