Appeals and Review of Planning Decisions
| Author | William Webster |
| Pages | 275-295 |
Chapter 13
Appeals and Review of Planning Decisions
RIGHT OF APPEAL AGAINST LOCAL AUTHORITY DECISIONS ON PLANNING MATTERS
13.1 If an application for planning permission is refused by the local planning authority (LPA), or if it is granted with conditions which the applicant considers unacceptable (including where planning permission has been applied for to develop land without compliance with conditions previously imposed),
13.2 An appeal may also be made if the LPA fails to issue a decision within the prescribed period: the deadline is eight weeks for non-major applications, 13 weeks for major applications and 16 weeks in the case of applications subject
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to an environmental impact assessment (EIA) (albeit subject to written agreement to extend the decision-making period).
TIME LIMIT FOR SUBMITTING AN APPEAL
13.3 Most planning appeals must be received within six months of the date of the decision notice or, in the case of a non-determination appeal, on the expiry of the prescribed or agreed period.
POWERS OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE ON APPEAL
13.4 The Secretary of State may allow or dismiss the appeal, or reverse or vary any part of the decision of the LPA, whether or not the appeal relates to that part, and he may deal with the application as if it had been made to him in the first instance.
13.5 In terms of appeal procedure and guidance, reference should be made to the Planning Inspectorate Procedural Guide in relation to planning appeals issued on 26/1/2018. The guide applies to the process involved in the case of planning appeals, householder development appeals, minor commercial appeals, listed building appeals, advertisement appeals and discontinuance notice appeals.
(Wales) Order 2012 (SI 2012/801). The notice of appeal is on the prescribed form obtained from the Secretary of State and is effective once served on the Secretary of State (along with copies of the necessary documentation mentioned in DMPO, art 37) and should be lodged with the First Secretary of State at Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6PN (or in Wales at The National Assembly for Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF1 3NQ). Copies of the notice and accompanying documents should also be served on the LPA.
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Reference should also be made to the Planning Policy Guidance Note (PPG) in the section ‘Appeals’.
WHO DECIDES THE APPEAL AND BY WHAT PROCEDURE?
13.6 Nearly all appeals are decided by inspectors of the Planning Inspectorate (which will be referred to as PINS where the context permits).
13.7 The Secretary of State will consider recovery in line with the criteria set out in a Parliamentary Statement on 30/6/2008. Guidance on propriety in ministerial decisions on planning matters is also available.
13.8 The vast majority of planning appeals are determined by way of written representations,
Government in February 2012.
Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/452), Pt 2, as amended by the Town and Country Planning (Appeals) (Written Representations Procedure and Advertisements) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/2114).
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disputed questions of fact which called for cross-examination in order for the dispute to be resolved.
(a) the planning issues raised or, in an enforcement appeal, the grounds of appeal, can be clearly understood from the appeal documents and, if required (and a small number of appeals do not require a site visit and can be dealt with on the basis of the appeal documents), a site inspection; or
(b) the issues are not complex and the inspector is not likely to need to test the evidence by questioning or to clarify any other matters; or
(c) in an enforcement appeal, the alleged breach, and the requirements of the notice, are clear.
13.9 Fairness does not demand that there should be a general obligation upon an appellant in every case conducted by the written representations procedure, to disclose documents which contained facts which were adverse to his appeal. However, a duty to disclose material facts which were adverse to the appellant’s case would probably arise where the appellant had chosen to give voluntary disclosure of a document containing factual material or voluntary disclosure of information in non-documentary form, and his failure to disclose other documents or information would have the effect of misleading or even potentially misleading an inspector about the true nature of the undisclosed material.
JPL 962. See also Mahajan v Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions [2002] EWHC 33 (Admin), where a decision by a planning inspector, dealing with an appeal by way of written representations, to accord written statements from the appellant limited weight on the basis that they were untested was flawed in view of his failure to provide reasons and his apparent disregard of the source, content, consistency and reliability of the written material. The court held that although a written representation procedure was not unfair in principle, in the circumstances of this case, fairness necessitated that there should have been a careful examination of the untested written material and...
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