The Planning Inspectorate- Wales

Making Your Enforcement Appeal (Guide)

The inquiry procedure

The rules that govern appeals decided by inquiry are called The Town and Country Planning (Enforcement)(Inquiries Procedure)(Wales) Rules 2003. There are two sets of rules depending on whether the Inspector or the Assembly will decide your appeal.

The early stages of your appeal will be as described in section 5. But there are some more things you and the LPA will have to do. The diagram in Appendix 3 at the back of this booklet explains the inquiry timetable.

We hold an inquiry if you or the LPA decide that you cannot rely on the written procedure and a site visit, and we have decided that a hearing is unsuitable. Sometimes we decide that an inquiry is necessary. If we do we will give you reasons for our decision. We will do the following for all inquiry cases.

Tell you and the LPA that there will be an inquiry. Our letter will set the ‘starting date’ and explain what you will have to do.

Set a date for the inquiry.

Appoint a suitable Inspector. We might have to transfer the case to another Inspector, sometimes at short notice, but we will keep you up to date about any change.

We will fix the inquiry date as early as possible. We will contact you and the LPA about the arrangements. The rules say that the date of the inquiry should not be more than 20 weeks after the ‘starting date’ for appeals decided by Inspectors and 22 weeks for appeals decided by the Assembly. If we cannot keep to these dates, the Assembly can extend the periods. You and the LPA can normally only refuse one date before we arrange the inquiry. You are entitled to at least 28 days’ notice, in writing, of the inquiry arrangements. But if the appeal is urgent, or if a cancellation releases an early date, we might ask you to accept less notice.

Exchanging written statements

You and the LPA must send us two copies of a statement of the arguments (together with any documents and plans) you each intend to put forward at the inquiry. We must receive these within six weeks of the starting date. The statement, accompanying documents and plans will be available for the public to view. The LPA statement will include any instructions from the highway authority, and will say whether any government department or local authority has comments on the appeal.

We will send a copy of the LPA’s statement to you and a copy of your statement to them. We will also send you and the LPA a copy of any comments from interested persons and anyone else who has a right to comment. You and the LPA can make written comments on these.

If you, or any of your witnesses, have a statement that is going to be read out at the inquiry (a ‘written statement of evidence’), we must receive two copies at least four weeks before the inquiry. The LPA must do the same. We will send a copy of your written statement of evidence to the LPA and a copy of theirs to you. If the statement is more than 1,500 words there must also be a summary. The summary must not introduce new evidence. Where a summary is provided, usually only that will be read at the inquiry. If you or the LPA do not send your written statement of evidence to us in time, the inquiry may be stopped for a while and you or the LPA may have to pay costs if there is no sufficient reason for the statement being late.

Statement of common ground

8.8 You must discuss all the points about your appeal that you and the LPA agree, for example, the site, area, plans and so on. At least four weeks before the inquiry date we must receive from you a written copy of what you have both agreed. This is called a ‘statement of common ground’.

Advertising the inquiry

We will send you a notice that gives the details of the inquiry arrangements. You must put it up on the site before the inquiry takes place. If the land isn’t under your control, we will ask the LPA to put up the notice somewhere people can easily see it near the site. We will also ask the LPA to tell the local papers and anyone else who may be interested in or affected by your appeal.

At the inquiry

The Inspector will start by introducing him or herself, announce the subject of the inquiry and ask for the names of all those who wish to speak. The Inspector will then normally explain the procedure.

Everyone who takes part in the inquiry must follow the same rules. This is to make sure that the procedure is fair to everyone. The Inspector will make sure that he or she has all the information needed to decide the appeal.

You will usually present your case first, then call any witnesses. The LPA and the Inspector can ask questions. The Inspector may also allow other interested persons – for example, neighbours or representatives of local amenity societies – to ask you or your witnesses questions. The LPA will then present their case in the same way, and you and the Inspector can ask their witnesses any questions.

After this, interested persons will usually have a chance to put their point of view. The Inspector may allow them to be questioned, and will make sure that you, and the LPA, have seen any letters from interested persons or groups who cannot be there in person. You, and the LPA, have the right to make a closing statement. You will speak last. This allows you to tell the Inspector about the important points that have come up during the questions. But you cannot introduce new arguments.

Anyone involved can use a lawyer or other person to put their case. The Inspector will treat all arguments the same, whoever puts them, and will make sure that the appeal is conducted fairly.

The inquiry site visit

The Inspector will usually visit the appeal site and surroundings alone, before the inquiry starts. Both you and the LPA can ask the Inspector to visit the site during the inquiry, or after the inquiry has finished, and to be there or be represented. During the site visit, the Inspector will ask you and the LPA if there is anything about the appeal site that you want to point out. But you cannot say anything else about your appeal.

Late comments

The Inspector will only consider any evidence we receive after the inquiry has closed in extraordinary circumstances.

People with disabilities

We want all inquiries to be held in buildings that give proper facilities for people with disabilities. The LPA usually choose and provide the place and we have asked them to pay particular attention to the needs of people with disabilities. If you, or anyone you know, want to go to the inquiry and you have particular needs, please contact the LPA to confirm they can make proper arrangements.

Meetings before an inquiry

Sometimes, if a lot of people want to attend the inquiry or the appeal is complicated, we will arrange a meeting before the inquiry (a pre-inquiry meeting). We will tell you if we decide to do this and will explain what the meeting will cover. We normally arrange this type of meeting if we think the inquiry will last for more than four days.

This type of meeting will only deal with things like defining the main issues, the order that you, the LPA and any other people will present evidence and how long it will take. You cannot discuss your appeal representations at this meeting.