Blackburn with Darwen planners out-perform improvement targets

Speeds of processing planning applications in Blackburn with Darwen continue to improve, putting the Council top of all Lancashire authorities for major planning applications.

The ranking has been revealed through national performance tables published at the end of March 2023.

Since the last quarterly Planning Performance report, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s Planning department has risen up the government’s league tables for the time taken to process decisions for both major and non-major developments.

For major developments – which means determining applications within 13 weeks or agreed extensions of time – the Council is in the top 19% of all England local authorities, placing 62^nd out of 336 councils. This means that the team is in the top 5 of North West unitary, as well as the best in Lancashire.

The team has risen from 234^th in 2015, and performance is now 97.2%, well above our current target for processing times of 80%.

For non-major developments – which means determining applications within 8 weeks or agreed extensions of time – the Council is in the top 12% of all England local authorities, placing 39^th out of 336 councils. The team has risen from 332^nd in 2015, and performance is now 96.3%, above our current target for processing times of 90%.

Coun Quesir Mahmood, Executive Member for Growth & Development and the Council’s Deputy Leader, praised the Council’s Planning team on its continued improvements. He said:

The Council’s positions in these league tables are evidence of how well our Planning team is continuing to perform since the introduction of our Planning Service Improvement Plan in 2015.

Central Government is keeping a close eye on these performance tables, and intends to use them to designate underperforming planning authorities. It’s pleasing to see that we are well above the government’s threshold for performance, thanks to the hard work of our Planning team.

The full report on national planning performance tables will be presented to the Planning & Highways Committee on 15 June, and is available online.