Applicants who have submitted a planning application to the county council have, under certain circumstances, a right of appeal against the council’s decisions relating to their application.
Appeals are made to the secretary of state through the Planning Inspectorate, who are based in Bristol.
There are three main reasons which allow an applicant to appeal against the county council’s decisions.
- An applicant may appeal against the refusal of the application by the county council
- If the applicant has been granted planning permission by the county council, and the applicant disagrees with one or more of the planning conditions imposed by the county council to control and regulate the development, the applicant may appeal against the imposition of the conditions
- If the applicant concludes that the county council are taking too long to deal with their application, then they may appeal against the council’s failure to either approve or refuse their application. Such appeals are called appeals against non-determination
Time limits
There are time limits for appeals. An appeal against refusal of permission, or the imposition of conditions, must be lodged within six months of the date of the decision, meaning the date on the decision notice.
Appeals against non-determination must be lodged within six months of the date that the application was declared valid. Normally the validation date is two days after the application was submitted here at Warwickshire.
Appeals against non-determination can only be made eight weeks after the date on which the application was declared valid, or 16 weeks after that date in the case of applications requiring environmental assessments.
Appealing
Only the applicant in whose name the application was made has a right to appeal. Other interested parties cannot lodge appeals against the council’s decisions. However, once an appeal is lodged, all representations received by the council during the processing of the planning application will be sent to the planning inspectorate for consideration and assessment by the inspector.
Interested parties who have made representation on the planning application will be notified of the receipt of the appeal and will have an opportunity to make further representations if they so wish.
If third parties wish to know the outcome of an appeal, they must write to the planning inspectorate and ask to be informed of the decision. Applicants and the council will automatically be informed of any decision made.
Enforcement appeals
If you have been served an enforcement notice by the council you can appeal against it. As with planning appeals, these appeals are made to the planning inspectorate. You can only appeal against an enforcement notice if you own, rent or lawfully occupy the property or land it applies to.
You must specify the grounds on which you wish to appeal. The possible grounds are:
- Ground (a) – that planning permission ought to be granted. This ground incurs a fee
- Ground (b) – that the breach of planning control has not occurred
- Ground (c) – that there has not been a breach of planning control
- Ground (d) – that, at the time the notice was issued, it was too late to take enforcement action
- Ground (e) – that the notice was not properly served
- Ground (f) – that the steps required by the notice are excessive
- Ground (g) – that the time given to comply with the notice is too short
Time limits
Your appeal must be received by the Planning Inspectorate before the notice comes into effect. This date is shown on the notice in paragraph 7, “the date this notice takes effect”. Any appeal received after that date will not be validated.
How to appeal
You can appeal or search for a planning decision.
This allows you to submit all documents electronically.
Alternatively, you can write to:
The Planning Inspectorate
Room 3 O/P
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
Bristol
BS1 6PN
You must also provide the council with a copy of your appeal and any supporting information you send to the Planning Inspectorate.
Types of appeals
There are three types of appeals:
- written representations
- hearings
- public inquiries
Written representations are best suited to relatively straightforward cases, while public inquiries are best reserved for the more complex issues where there is a lot of public interest. It is the Planning Inspectorate who determine which route to take.
Written representations are dealt with by the exchange of documentation and by a site visit by the inspector accompanied by the applicant and representatives of the council.
At hearings and public inquiries, the parties to the appeal (the applicant, the council and interested parties) are able to present their cases in person.
Third parties
If you are a third party, for example, a parish council or objector to a planning application you can comment on an appeal. The council will carry out some local consultation when an appeal is received; this will primarily be to people who have already shown an interest in the matter, for example, by commenting on a planning application or reporting the breach of planning control.
If you wish to make comments on a planning application, you can do so online. If you do not have access to the internet, you can send your comments to the named Inspector for the appeal.
All representations must be received by the deadline given. Any representations submitted after the deadline will usually not be considered and will be returned. The Planning Inspectorate does not acknowledge representations. All representations must quote the appeal references. Please note that any representations you submit to the Planning Inspectorate will be copied to the applicant and the local planning authority and will be considered by the inspector when determining the appeal.
You can get a copy of one of the Planning Inspectorate’s guides to taking part in enforcement appeals booklets free of charge from gov.uk.
When made, the Planning Inspectorate’s decision will be sent to the applicant(s) and the council and published online.
More information
For further information please visit the Planning Inspectorate website or contact one of our planning officers.
Telephone: 01926 412692