Guidance on the time Planning Appeals take; taken from Government website

Members may be interested in the latest Guidance regarding the time that Planning Appeals take.   This information was last updated on 07 February 2018.   Reproduced from the website…

“The appeal handling process

The majority of appeals will be decided by written representations or a hearing and there are four stages involved, which are explained below.

The tables are a guide, and because the number of appeals we receive each month fluctuates this can affect the time taken to validate or start a case.

Planning (including listed building) appeals

These appeals will be in respect of a decision that the local planning authority (LPA) has made in relation to a planning application other than a householder appeal.

For appeals dealt with by written representations or a hearing:

For appeals dealt with by an enquiry:

Planning appeals that are decided following an enquiry do not have a separate “validation” stage. Instead, when the appeal is started, the start letter declares the appeal to be valid, and the necessary validity checks will have been carried out so that an enquiry can arranged.

Householder appeals

These are appeals relating to refusal for development associated with a house such as a rear extension or roof alteration.

All enforcement and lawful development certificate appeals

These are appeals against an enforcement notice (including listed building enforcement) or lawful development certificate in respect of your property.

Receipt to validation.

You submit an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, Once it is received, we undertake certain checks to ensure it is a valid appeal. We will let you know when your appeal has been validated. The times stated above include appeals that have been submitted but cannot be validated until further documentation has been received.

Validation to start.

Once the appeal has been validated, we identify a suitable Inspector to decide the appeal. The time this takes depends on several things, including the type of appeal and the procedure type.

Start to event.

Once we have identified a suitable Inspector, we will write to you with the timetable for the appeal, including deadlines for the submission of representations and support documents. The Inspector will also hold a site visit, a hearing or an enquiry.

Event to decision.

The Inspector will then make a final decision regarding your appeal, based on the evidence submitted. You will be notified of the decision                       ”