Derbyshire town with the best planning approval rate

Bolsover has been hailed as the town with the best rate, with 98.4% of planning permission applications getting the go-ahead.

The research, carried out by Townscape Architects, puts the Peak District National Park in ninth place out of the UK’s 15 national parks with a total of 78.6 per cent of applications being approved in the year ending December 31, 2021.

Duncan McGregor, who is Bolsover District Council’s cabinet member for corporate governance, said: “Our Local Plan is key when guiding us on proposed developments, but one of our key priorities is to unlock our development potential. We sit right in the heart of the UK with excellent transport links, so by sensitively regenerating the district and actively encouraging growth that will provide better higher paid and skilled jobs, better transport infrastructure or a better shopping experience then Bolsover district will flourish.

"We have an excellent planning team who actively engage with developers before planning permission is sought, to ensure what they are proposing are the right developments in the right place and will have a beneficial impact on the local community. So all this adds up to a high success rate in our planning approval which is helping Bolsover district grow and thrive.”

A National Park Authority spokesperson said: “The Peak District National Park Authority receives some of the highest numbers of planning applications across the 15 UK national parks – over 1,200 during the last year – this for example, compared to less than 30 applications in Northumberland National Park.

“The Peak District also has some 100 Conservation Areas reflecting the sensitivity of the built environment, a substantial number of settlements and large areas of habitats covered by national and European conservation protections. As a result, developments including those for tourism and the agricultural sector set within the open landscape can be particularly challenging when balanced with our statutory purposes for conserving scenic beauty.

“This often complex planning picture and our overall high volume of applications means that our levels of approval may sometimes be lower than other planning authorities as a proportion, however we still approve over three-quarters of all applications received.”