Planning Application Appeals

If you do decide to make an appeal here are a few guidelines to follow:

Planning Appeals

All appeals for planning applications in both England and Wales are handled by the planning inspectorate. The appeals process has strict deadlines that you must stick to in order for your planning appeal to be considered.

Make sure you know exactly what your grounds of appeal are these form the basis of your argument with the Planning Authorities decision, if the Planning Inspectorate deems your appeal unsatisfactory you will be asked to amend them or they may even invalidate your appeal.

General Information: The Planning Appeals System

Only the person who submitted the original planning application can make an appeal. Your planning appeal will be considered by a planning inspector that has been allocated by the Secretary of State in England or by the National Assembly in Wales. Most appeals are handled in writing however sometimes they are decided in a hearing with the allocated inspector.

The Deadline for submitting your planning appeal is 6 months from the date of the original decision. After this time you will no longer have the right to appeal and would have to resubmit any planning application at full cost.

The cost of an appeal is FREE however it would be wise to remember that the Local Authority may ask you to pay for any costs incurred during the appeals process and you will be responsible for any costs incurred by yourself.

What will be considered in the appeal?

Your planning appeal will be considered on its own merits. It is important that you make sure your statement covers all the points you think are relevant to your case however it is important that you make your statement as short and concise as possible. Sticking to the point will help improve your case.

The inspector dealing with your case will have full access to all national planning policies. If you are using a particular part of this in your argument it is important that you quote and reference the particular paragraphs of the relevant documents.

After all the documentation has been gathered the inspector will consider all the evidence presented in the light of the following:

• The Development plan - this is the plan that your local authority is trying to stick to when making their planning decisions. Finding out about this plan and what your local authority is looking for at an early stage will help get your planning application through.
• Local and National Planning Policy - These are effectively the guidelines for all planning authorities unfortunately as well as National Planning Policy your proposal will be subject to Local Policy too this means what may be seen as perfectly acceptable in one area may not somewhere else in the country.
• Your Statement of Case - this is why you believe your planning application has been unfairly rejected it is effectively your chance to put your argument across. Make sure you know exactly what your case is before you appeal.
• Your Local Authorities Statement of Case - This should state why your Local Authority has declined your application for planning permission. It should demonstrate how and why the decision was made.
• Comments you make on their statement and vice versa- you will have been shown the statements made by your Local Authority before the appeal was submitted, as will the Local Planning Authority have seen your statement. The Inspector will look at the comments and arguments made by both sides.
• Comments submitted by anyone else - In some cases there may have been comments and objections made by other people, these will also be taken into consideration by the Inspector when they make their decision.

Once a decision has been made the Case Officer will send this to you. Once the decision has been made it is final.

Planning Appeals Deadlines:

The appeals process for planning has very strict deadlines. Both you and the Local Planning Authority must adhere to these deadlines; failure to do so may mean that your appeal is rejected without consideration:

• Within 2 Weeks from the starting date as provided to you by The Planning Inspectorate, the Local Planning Authority will send you The Planning Inspectorate Questionnaire, which they have filled in. At this they will also notify all interested people about the appeal. This is your chance to see the Planning Authorities argument.
• Within 6 Weeks from the starting date you and the Local Planning Authority must send your statement of case to the Planning Inspectorate. They in turn will send all the interested parties copies of all comments made by the people involved in the appeal process.
• Within 9 Weeks from your allocated starting date you can then send the Planning Inspectorate any comments you have in response to the comments made by the other parties involved in the appeals process.
  

Making a planning appeal can be as stressful and drawn out as the planning application itself. Making sure you have the right advice, and approach your planning application in the right way from the start should help you avoid the planning appeals process all together. Getting to know your Local Authority and Planning Officer from an early stage can also help.

Take a look over our planning section for more information.

Or contact our team and let us do it all for you!