Planning Practice Note:
Planning and Enforcement Appeals
This leaflet gives information about the procedures for dealing with planning and enforcement appeals.
BACKGROUND
Under the Town and Country Planning Acts applicants who are aggrieved at a planning decision made by the LPA have a right of appeal to the Secretary of State. The right of appeal applies to:
- refusals of planning permission and other consents;
- conditions applied to planning permission and other consents;
- Enforcement Notices (there is no right of appeal against Breach of Condition Notices).
Third party appeals
There are no rights of appeal against planning decisions by anyone other than the applicant.
Role of the Planning Inspectorate (PINS)
Planning Inspectors appointed by the Secretary of State make most appeal decisions. The management of the process is undertaken by The Planning Inspectorate (PINS).
Secretary of State cases
In a few cases, the appeal decision is made by the Secretary of Stateon the advice of the Inspector.
Call-in
The Secretary of State has an infrequently used power to require planning applications to be referred to him for decision. A public inquiry is invariably held in such cases. The call-in process otherwise resembles the appeal process.
TIME LIMITS FOR APPEALS
Appeals must be submitted to PINS within set times from the LPA's decision:
- Appeals against planning, listed building and other decisions: 6 months;
- Advertisement appeals: 8 weeks;
- Enforcement appeals: 28 days;
- Appeals under the Trees Regulations (28 days) are made to the Government Office for the West Midlands.
Appeals for non-determination
If the LPA fails to reach a decision on an application within the set time scale (normally 8 weeks) the applicant can appeal, but must do so within the periods set out above starting from the date an appeal could first have been made.
CHOICE OF APPEAL METHOD
Appeals may be heard in one of 3 ways:
- written representations;
- informal hearing;
- public inquiry.
Both the applicant and the LPA have a right to ask for a public inquiry or hearing to be held. However, the PINS prefers the parties to settle for written representations or a hearing in all but complex cases.
Written representations
Most appeals are heard by written representations as they are easier and cheaper for all parties and the process is much shorter. The appellant, LPA and any third parties submit their views in writing. The LPA also submits all the documents relevant to its decision.
Informal hearings
Some appeals are heard at informal hearings which allow the parties to present (without lawyers) their cases orally to the inspector and to answer questions.
Public inquiries
A small proportion appeals involve complex issues which need to be examined at a public inquiry. At an inquiry the cases for the appellant and the LPA are usually led by lawyers who present evidence through witnesses who can be cross-examined.
Effect of appeal method on outcome
PINS policy is that the chance of success of an appeal is not affected by the choice of method. Statistically appellants who chose the public inquiry method have a slightly higher chance of success. However this can probably be put down to the fact that the public inquiry method is less likely to be chosen by appellants with weaker cases because of the higher costs and longer timescales involved.
The Council's policy
It is the Council's policy to use the written representations method whenever possible as this is the cheapest option for both appellant and the LPA. The Council is pleased to accede to requests for hearings where appropriate. The Council will only seek to have appeals heard at public inquiries when it believes there are matters which need to be dealt with under cross-examination..
APPEAL PROCEDURE
Planning appeal procedure is complex and there are slight differences in procedure for each of the 3 appeal methods. However, within the limitations of a summary document such as this, it is possible to outline the procedure as follows:
Start date
PINS notifies all the parties of the date the appeal has been accepted (the start date).
Within 2 weeks of the start date
The LPA completes the appeal questionnaire, and sends this and any papers referred to in it to PINS. The LPA also notifies any third parties entitled to be informed of the appeal.
Within 6 weeks of the start date
The LPA and any third parties must send their detailed statement of case or representations to PINS. PINS circulates these to the other parties. It is not necessary for anyone who made representations on the planning application to make any further comments at the appeal stage unless they specifically wish to do so. All representations on the application are included in the papers seen by the Inspector.
Within 9 weeks of the start date
All parties must have sent their comments on the submissions of the others to PINS.
Within 8 weeks of the start date (hearings) or within 16 or 18 weeks (public inquiries)
PINS notifies the parties of the date(s) of the hearing or inquiry for which 4 weeks notice must be given unless lesser notice is agreed between the LPA and the appellant.
At least 4 weeks before a public inquiry
Anyone intending to submit a proof of evidence must send it to PINS with a summary not exceeding 1500 words. PINS will forward copies to the other parties.
At least 2 weeks before a hearing or public inquiry
The LPA must publicise the details of the hearing or inquiry.
Appearances at a hearing or public inquiry
Anyone may participate in a hearing or a public inquiry at the discretion of the Inspector if, in his view, they have something relevant to say which has not already been said.
Site visit
In hearing and public inquiry cases and in written representation cases where access to the site is required, the Inspector makes a site visit accompanied by representatives of the parties. No one may make representations to the Inspector at a site visit; the only purpose is to view the site. In written representation cases where the site can be seen without entering the land, the Inspector makes an unaccompanied site visit.
Inspector's decision
The Inspector's decision letter is usually received a few weeks after the hearing, public inquiry or site visit. Generally, the more complex the case the longer the Inspector takes to complete his decision. The Inspector's decision is final unless it is challenged in the courts on a point of law.
Secretary of State's decisions
In Secretary of State cases the decision takes longer (sometimes much longer) to be made.
Costs
The Regulations allow (in hearing and public inquiry cases) for the appellant or the LPA to ask the Inspector to require the other party to pay all or part of their costs, if the other party has acted unreasonably. The Council will apply for costs in appropriate circumstances. Appellants are advised to take their own legal advice on this aspect.
CONTACTS
The Planning Inspectorate, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6PN. Telephone: (0117) 372 6372. Forms and information are also available on the Internet
- www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk (External link)
and from the LPA.
Government Office for the West Midlands, 77 Paradise Circus, Birmingham, B1 2DT.
Telephone: (0121) 212 5000.
© Copyright South Shropshire District Council,
Stone House, Corve Street,
Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 1DG.
Tel: (01584) 813000
Fax: (01584) 813128
e-mail: planning@southshropshire.gov.uk
Page Subscriptions:
Subscription allows you to track page changes without having to re-visit the page on too frequent a basis. The system will send you an email when a page to which you have subscribed is changed.
Subscribe to changes to this page here.Author: Planning and Building Control. Last Updated: 22/3/2007.
