The Planning Inspectorate- Wales

Making Your Lawful Development Certificate 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 3. But there are some more things you and the LPA will have to do.

An inquiry is often necessary in a lawful development certificate appeal, especially where the facts of the case are in dispute and evidence needs to be taken on oath or cross-examination is required. If we decide that an inquiry is necessary we will tell you why. 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 the full statement of case (together with any documents and plans) you each intend to make at the inquiry. You must send these so as to be received within six weeks after the starting date. The statement, accompanying documents and plans will be available for the public to look at.

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.

Statement of common ground

You must discuss all the points about your appeal that you and the LPA agree, for example, the site, area, any plans and so on. At least four weeks before the inquiry date you must send us 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 two weeks before the inquiry takes place. If the land is not 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, at least two weeks before the inquiry date, as well as anyone else who may be interested 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 LPA will then present their case in the same way, and you and the Inspector can ask them or their witnesses any questions.

After this, any other interested persons will usually have a chance to put their point of view on the facts of the case. The Inspector may allow them to be questioned or to question you, and will make sure that you, and the LPA, have seen any letters from interested persons or groups who cannot be there in person. Any discussion of the planning merits of the development will not be relevant and the Inspector will not allow this. You, and the LPA, have the right to make a closing statement. You will usually 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 inquiry 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 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 exceptional circumstances. It will normally be returned to you.

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 explain what the meeting will cover. These will normally be arranged for inquiries lasting 8 days or more and may be arranged for shorter ones.

This type of meeting will only deal with things like the order that you, the LPA and any other people will present their evidence. You cannot discuss your appeal representations at this meeting.