Planning Approval Rate in Dartmoor National Park

Dartmoor National Park is a little stricter than the median English authority, granting 86.8% of the applications it decides (rank 192nd of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 86.8% approved against an England average of 87%. Within National Parks it is the 9th most approving of 10 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 91.2%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 41 of its 310 decisions were refusals (13.2%). On the split by scale it is somewhat more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 100% of major developments approved versus 90.3% of householder and other small-scale work, from 2 major decisions.

On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 93.2% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 310 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its National Parks neighbours it sits between Lake District National Park (91.3%, more approving) and Peak District National Park (86.5%, stricter). For context in National Parks, Northumberland National Park approves the most (94.6%) and Peak District National Park the least (86.5%).