Appeal
If your local authority refuses to grant planning permission for a development, the person who submitted the application can appeal to a Planning Inspector. The Inspector, who is independent of the local authority and the applicant, will then look again at the case, and can either agree with or overturn the local council’s decision.Once a planning decision has been made only the applicant can appeal against that decision.

Appeals of refusals of planning permission are heard and decided by a Planning Inspector. There is no third party right of appeal for other people who disagree with the local council’s decision.The Council’s decision does not have to be final and circumstances other than a refusal, such as onerous conditions or restrictions, can also be appealed. However, time is of the essence as there is a restricted period within which an appeal can be made, which is six months from the date of the decision notice to refuse or 12 weeks in the case of Householder Applications.

In order to achieve the best chance of success an appeal needs to be made early. It is also beneficial to consider engaging professional help as the legal requirements and technical language utilised by the planning authorities, if you are unaccustomed to it, may be confusing. That confusion can lead to an appeal being dismissed rather than allowed.

Anyone can challenge a planning decision in the courts, if they have evidence that the planning decision was not made following the proper procedures. Legal challenges cannot take into account whether the decision was right or not in planning terms, only whether regulations and conventions about making decisions were properly followed. Challenging a planning decision in the courts is a difficult and costly process, and should not be undertaken without specialist legal advice.

An applicant who is refused planning permission, or who finds the conditions attached to the permission unacceptable, has the right to appeal to the Secretary of State for planning.
•    Appeals are heard by independent inspectors from the Planning Inspectorate, an agency of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
•    Inspectors are appointed by the Secretary of State.

When this happens, the local authority is always informed. If you have been involved at the application stage, the authority will notify you, too.

If you haven’t been involved up to this point, you can ask your council’s chief planning officer to let you know if a planning decision that concerns you is being appealed against.

An appeal can be started once
•    The local authority either takes a decision on a planning application that the developer finds unacceptable
•    or hasn’t taken a decision within eight weeks if the application is a minor one, or thirteen weeks if it is a major one
•    or serves an Enforcement Notice on development it believes has flouted planning controls

The applicant must then appeal to the Secretary of State within three months, who then decides a method of appeal. All interested parties organise their evidence and if the case is significant enough, a public inquiry takes place. The inspector will make a formal site visit, and then make a decision on the appeal.

Court challenges
Planning decisions can be challenged in the courts if there is evidence that the process by which the decision was made was unlawful. A court challenge can be very complex, lengthy and costly, however, and shouldn’t be undertaken without legal advice. This section explains how court challenges can be made.

Please call Plan B Architecture Today On 0208 4072472 To Know More About Appeals

If you find yourself in this unfortunate situation, you have come to the right place! Plan B Architecture are here to assist you with your appeal. We understand there are many firms out there offering the same service as us and you may have used one of these firms for your initial application. If you feel Plan B Architecture would be better suited to deal with your appeal please contact us immediately.