A planning applicant has a right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate if:

• No decision has been reached on the planning application within the statutory period
• The planning application is refused
• The applicant does not agree with one or more of the conditions on a planning approval

There is no third party right of appeal, i.e. someone who objects to a planning application does not have a right to appeal if the application is approved.

Appeals can be time consuming and expensive. Before you choose to appeal, it is worth speaking to the planning officer who dealt with your application to see if there is a compromise and submit an amended application.

There are 3 ways in which an appeal can be dealt with:

Written Representations - this is the quickest method. The appellant and the Council prepare written statements for the Planning Inspectorate to consider. A Planning Inspector will visit the site and then issue a decision.

Informal Hearing - This is a discussion of the planning issues involved between the Council and the appellant which is led by the Planning Inspector.

Public Inquiry - each side presents its case verbally before an Inspector and the witnesses for each side can be cross-examined by the opposing parties. This is usually a more lengthy and expensive procedure as it normally involves professional representation and complex arguments.

Appeal forms are available from the Planning Inspectorate. Further advice is also available on the Planning Portal website.

Householder Applications

Appeals in relation to householder applications must be submitted within 12 weeks of the date shown on our decision notice.

Note that if we have failed to determine your householder planning application or you are appealing against the grant of permission subject to conditions to which you object, please follow the time limits under “Planning application” below.

Planning Applications

With the exception of advertisement and lawful development certificate applications, the time period for all other types of application appeals is 6 months from the date of decision or 6 months from the expiry of the period which the LPA had to determine the application.

Advertisement applications have a time period of 8 weeks and lawful development certificate applications have no time limit.

The Planning Inspectorate works for the central government department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and are independent inspectors of planning decisions.