FOREST of Dean District Council is neither the fastest or slowest local authority in Gloucestershire at deciding planning applications, but sits deep in the bottom half of a national league table.

National data shows where developers face most delays in Gloucestershire when applying for planning permission.

The Government ranks local authorities on the percentage of planning applications they decide within eight weeks or within the agreed time

The latest tables, which are split between major and minor developments, have been compiled by analysing data ranging from July 2021 to June 2023.

For major plans such as where ten or more houses will be built or an area bigger than 1.2 acres will be developed, Stroud District Council, at 181 out of 324 nationally, is the best performing in Gloucestershire.

They also top the list of authorities in the county in how fast they deal with minor applications such as a house extension or one to nine homes. They rank 105th in England.

Cotswold District Council is the second fastest in the county in dealing with major developments. They rank 203rd but are also second from bottom when it comes to deciding minor applications. They are ranked as 308th nationally.

Gloucester City Council is bottom of the county table for minor planning applications. They are 310th in England.

But they have been marked down by the Government for not being able to provide all of their data due to the cyber attack in 2021.

And at 248th, they are also the second slowest in the county in determining major applications.

All of Gloucestershire councils are in the bottom half of the national table for minor applications apart from Stroud (105th) and Cheltenham (153rd).

The Forest of Dean is ranked 212th for major applications and 216th for processing minor developments.

However, Tewkesbury Borough Council at 310 out of 324 authorities across England, is the worst in Gloucestershire in terms of speed in determining major applications.

While their performance is better in dealing with smaller applications. They are ranked 267th for these.

A spokesperson for the Forest of Dean District Council said the authority is pleased to have seen a period of upward performance over the course of this year. They say this due to enhancements colleagues have made within the service.

“We remain on our journey of continuous improvement through a series of changes we hope will improve our service user experience and go even further to enhance performance,” they said.