Refusals and Appeals

All applicants are afforded the right of appeal against a Local Planning Authority's refusal of their application. In addition, you can also appeal against planning conditions attached to an approved decision and non-determination if you have not received a decision to your application within the statutory time period (8 or 13 weeks). All appeals are lodged with the Planning Inspectorate.

There is no third party right of appeal in the English planning system, so once the decision is taken by the Council it cannot be challenged by a third party, unless there are grounds for a judicial review. This can only be sought if there is evidence that the Council can be challenged on a point of law rather than a disagreement with the actual decision or the weight given to concerns that have been expressed.

We would always advise you to contact your case officer prior to submitting an appeal as you may be able to negotiate an amended scheme that is suitable to both you and the Council.

An appeal against refusal of a householder planning application must be lodged with the Planning Inspectorate within three months of the date of the decision notice. All appeals for other types of application must be lodged with the Planning Inspectorate within six months of the date of the decision notice with the exception of advertisement applications which have a shorter timescale.

There are three types of appeal:

  • Written Representations – this is the most common. Each side submits its case in writing and an Inspector visits the site. This is the speediest way of getting a decision.
  • Local Hearing – this informal hearing chaired by an Inspector, and both the appellant and the Council, as well as other interested parties, may put their respective cases verbally, as well as by written submission.
  • Local Public Inquiry – this takes the form of a formal quasi judicial hearing, presided over by an Inspector. Often parties are represented by lawyers and witnesses are cross-examined.

The decision of the Secretary of State or one of the Inspectors is final and there is no further right of appeal except upon a point of law in the High Court.

The Planning Inspectorate have published guidance on the appeal process which is broken down into each type of appeal process. This advice is all available through the Planning Portal. In addition, all the relevant application forms are available to be completed online through their website.

Search for an appeal

You can search for all current (awaiting decision) and determined appeals by using the links below. Please note that full documentation on determined appeal cases can be found with the documents for the original planning application that was the subject of the appeal, which you can search for and view using the search form on the Planning searches page.