Appeals

We pride ourselves on offering a heritage service that is tailored to your needs and the project’s circumstances.

Our team of qualified heritage professionals are ready to assist with appeals associated with listed buildings and conservation areas. We provide a range of services, including taking on the entire appeals process or supporting evidence with standalone heritage advice, for example acting as an Expert Witness. 

What is the appeals process?

Even the most comprehensive and well intended application may be met with a refusal from the Local Authority. Thankfully the receipt of a refusal does not mean that all is lost and there are options available if your planning or listed building consent application has been refused. One option is to submit an application for a revised scheme, which in some circumstances may be advisable and the other is to appeal the planning decision. A decision can be appealed if either:

• You disagree with the decision made by the Local Planning Authority or
• For non-determination, meaning the decision was not made within 8 weeks from the date of validation or 13 weeks for a major development (10 or more dwellings or a building of more than 1,000 sq metres).

Before appealing under non-determination it is advisable to assess and establish whether the Local Authority is considering your application favourably, but for various reasons the decision has simply been delayed and therefore under certain circumstances it may be beneficial to wait for the decision. Every case is different but we will help to assess your case before making any decisions on the best way forward.

There are different appeal processes, one for all householder applications (such as extensions or alterations to one single house) and another for full planning decisions relating to major development (including extensions to flats). There is no fee to be paid to the Local Authority for either of these appeal processes.

There are three ways in which an appeal can be heard:

1. Written representations
2. Informal hearing
3. Public inquiries

For all routes the appeal site will be visited by the Planning Inspector to view the site and its surroundings. Where the site is sufficiently visible from the road or public viewpoint the visit will be carried out unaccompanied. Where access is required to the site, this will be pre-arranged but will be for access only and there will be no opportunity to discuss the appeal with the Inspector. On larger schemes, an accompanied site visit may be carried out and a representative from the council must attend, along with the appellant.

The most common form of appeal is through written representations. This involves producing a written statement of case justifying the grounds of the appeal and why the development should be granted permission. On non householder appeals, the Council will be given the opportunity to prepare an appeal statement which may provide further justification of their refusal and comments on the appellants statement. If they do produce a statement or any third party representations are submitted, the appellant will be able to prepare a rebuttal. We can handle the entire written representations appeal process, producing the appeal statements and liaising with the Planning Inspectorate so as to ensure a seamless and stress free process. Equally we can provide specific support and advice into this process as required.

The second form of appeal is an informal hearing, which may be appropriate for more complicated proposals. This route still requires the same preparations as for the written representations route with the production of a written statement of case justifying the grounds of the appeal. The Planning Inspectorate will identify the issues for discussion at the hearing based on the evidence and statements received. We can handle the entire informal hearing appeal process, producing the appeal statements and liaising with the Local Authorities and the Planning Inspectorate as well as personally presenting the case against the local planning authority to the Planning Inspectorate at the hearing. Alternatively we can provide specific support and advice into this process as required.

The final form of appeal is a public inquiry and we can offer full support or specific professional services, such as expert witness, for more details in relation to public inquiry services please click here.

We can tailor our services to meet your needs, providing support in assessing your proposals and recommending the best route forward, prepare all the written statement of cases, lodge the appeal on your behalf, representing you at hearings, liaise with the Local Authority and the Planning Inspectorate.

What are the timescales for appeals?

There are different deadlines for submitting appeals depending on the type of appeal, for example:

• Refusal of a householder planning application is 12 weeks from the date on the decision notice*
• Refusal of an advertisement consent application is 8 weeks from the date of receipt of the decision
• Refusal of a planning application for ‘minor commercial’ development is within 12 weeks from the date on the decision notice*
• Refusal of a listed building consent application is within 6 months from the date on the notice of decision however if it relates to a householder appeal (i.e. an extension on a house or windows on a house) needing planning and listed building consent then the appeal should be submitted at the same time as the householder planning appeal so 12 weeks from the date on the decision notice.
• Refusal of other types of planning applications must be submitted within 6 months from the date on the decision notice*

*These deadlines may differ where the Local Planning Authority has taken enforcement action and the deadline maybe as little as 28 days from the date of the enforcement notice.

The length of time planning appeals take to be determined by the Planning Inspectorate varies dramatically, but as a guide you should expect the following:

• Householder appeals (written representations) on average 18 weeks
• Other appeals (written representations) on average 30 weeks
• Informal hearings on average 53 weeks
• Public Inquiries on average 36 weeks

*The above figures are based on government statistics from March 2022, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/appeals-average-timescales-for-arranging-inquiries-and-hearings

Please contact one of our consultants on 01622 322060 to discuss your individual case or send through the details of your case to hello@fullerlong.com.