Wales planning crisis: rural councils take decades to decide bids
Communities in rural Wales are waiting years, and in some cases decades, for planning permission to build homes and invest in their businesses, with some live applications still unresolved from 2005.
This is according to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests compiled by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA). The CLA approached all 13 rural councils in Wales. In total, seven councils responded.
The findings show:
Of the councils that did not disclose full information, Bannau and Conwy are yet to respond to Freedom of Information requests, despite the statutory 20 working day deadline having passed.
Victoria Bond, Director, CLA Cymru, said:
"You wouldn't ask an AI company to wait a decade to innovate. So why do we accept it in rural Wales?
"Our planning system is in crisis, and fixing it must be at top of the new government's in-tray. Across the countryside, businesses are full of drive, ideas and entrepreneurialism. They are hungry to build, move fast, and create jobs and homes for their communities. Instead, their plans are gathering dust in a planning system that seems almost designed to punish ambition.
"Every delay has a cost. Businesses lose money, plans lose momentum, and young people lose a chance to build a future in the communities where they grew up.
"Plaid Cymru promised rural voters less bureaucracy, clearer timelines and faster decisions. We need them to succeed. Rural Wales does not want another decade of lost growth, or of falling further behind our urban counterparts. It wants a planning system that backs ambition and lets communities build for the future."
Missed targets
Councils are legally required to make decisions on minor planning applications within 56 days and major developments within 91 days. Yet, five out of seven councils revealed their average response times failed to meet these targets in 2025, hampering innovation and growth in the countryside.
Denbighshire reports deciding one in five applications on time (21.7%), whilst Eryri National Park is managing only a third (33.3%). In Carmarthenshire, only half of applications meet target timeframes. Even better performing areas are struggling. Pembrokeshire reports meeting 74% of applications within target, below its own stated 80% benchmark on the council website.
This means lengthy waiting periods for rural communities trying to grow. Average decision times range from 122 days (Carmarthenshire) to 223 days (Denbighshire), far exceeding the government target. For a farming family trying to convert a barn into a small business unit or tourism let, that delay can mean a lost season of income. To tackle this, the CLA is calling on the Welsh Government to expand permitted development rights, so businesses can diversify without having to wait for full planning approval.
Extreme delays and decade-long backlogs
100% of councils that responded are sitting on cases from before 2022, including some which stretch back for decades.
Pembrokeshire has a live case dating back to March 2005, while Monmouthshire admitted to eight outstanding cases dating from 2008 to 2017. The council still has 472 applications currently awaiting consideration.
Powys also reports cases still awaiting decisions for more than eight years, including a free-range egg production unit submitted in June 2018 with more than 91 pieces of correspondence.
And these are not the only applications left stagnant. Eryri National Park has 119 applications outstanding since 2021. Anglesey reports more than one in five applications still awaiting a decision.
To prevent backlogs, the CLA is calling on the Senedd to invest in an extra two planning officers for every local planning authority Including National Parks. This would speed up decisions and ensure councils can deliver overdue reform to the planning system.
Major housing schemes stuck in the system
Some councils are rejecting a significant number of applications for new homes, putting housing targets and rural growth at risk.
Across councils that responded, housing approval rates are stuck at around six in ten, with Denbighshire (60%), Anglesey (59%) and Eryri National Park (61%) all showing a similar picture.
In Denbighshire, some individual housing applications have taken 1,489 days (over four years) and 1,045 days (nearly three years) to reach a decision.
And this is harming the communities most in need. In Monmouthshire, a 100% affordable housing scheme submitted in November 2018 remains pending, alongside a 110-home development submitted in October 2024.
For young families trying to stay local, these delays mean fewer options and growing pressure on already stretched communities.
The CLA is calling on the government to cut red tape to help build a small number of homes in a large number of villages, so families can stay in the communities they grew up in.
Appetite for reform
As FOI data reveals the problems inherent in the planning system, new polling commissioned by the CLA reveals widespread demand for change.
A CensusWide poll of 1,000 people across Wales' most rural seats revealed nearly 3 out of 4 agree the next Welsh government must do more to build a small number of homes in a large number of villages, while 68% agree that the planning system is delaying the jobs, homes and services people need.
A lack of affordable housing was also cited in the top three biggest issues facing rural communities in Wales, making it a major priority for Plaid in their first few months in power.