Farming and rural businesses are waiting years – and even decades – to get planning permission to enable much-needed diversification and investment.
This is according to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents farmers and landowners.
The rural organisation approached 38 councils in England where over half the population lives in rural areas. In total, 35 responded.
The findings show lengthy delays, as eight councils exceeded the government’s target time to issue decisions in 2023, with delays stretching from weeks to years.
Councils are legally required to make decisions on minor planning applications within 56 days and major developments within 91 days.
Yet, nearly half of the 18 councils that shared their average response times failed to meet these targets in 2023.
Meanwhile, fourteen local authorities were sitting on applications from before 2020, with some dating as far back as 2007.
Even smaller projects have faced delays. A 2007 application for a recreational fishing lake in South Norfolk dragged on for seven years before seemingly stalling in 2014.
Elsewhere, a 2017 application for an office building in Cambridge was left in limbo after two and a half years of back and forth.
And some councils are rejecting nearly half of all applications, from on-farm diversification projects to major rural infrastructure development.
The FOI requests show that Central Bedfordshire approved just 50% of projects between August 2023 and August 2024, while West Lindsey District council approved 61%.
Victoria Vyvyan, president of CLA, warned that England's planning system was in "crisis" mode, and urgent reform and funding was needed.
"Rural businesses could grow, provide housing and employment, and be nimble and fast-moving, but they’re being hampered by a planning system that’s anything but.
"The productivity of rural areas lags 14% and that is in no small part due to planning delays and refusals. Yet the latest revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework offer little to fix this.
"Labour is scrambling to find economic growth, but the opportunity is right here. Let’s clear the backlogs and create a planning system that powers rural growth."
Peter Hogg, a farmer and rural business owner in the North East, said the planning system was "crippling" businesses like his.
He sought to convert a farmhouse into a B&B to help diversify income, but the application took over a year to complete due to a dispute over a small sunroom.
He said this should have been a straightforward process given it was replacing a previous extension that was demolished.
Mr Hogg explained that this delay meant the business lost a full season and over £30,000 in revenue.
"When permission was finally granted, it took just two weeks and £800 to build the sunroom – four times less than what we paid in planning costs," he added.
"If businesses like mine are to succeed, government must cut the red tape that’s stunting our growth and livelihoods.
"Beyond the financial impact, the mental toll is profound. Many perceived problems could be sorted in 20 minutes over a cup of tea."
