6.1 Advertisement appeals rarely involve complicated planning issues. We
usually deal with these appeals by letter and documents setting out the
views of either side, and anybody else who has an interest. We deal with
over 90% of appeals in this way.

6.2 However, if you feel that a letter would not explain your case fully, you
have the right to put your case at a hearing. The council also has the
right to ask for a hearing. Whichever method is chosen, we will appoint
an Inspector to deal with the appeal.

6.3 In England, we will try to complete the appeal process and let you have
our decision within 16 weeks of receiving your appeal forms (if you are
using the written procedure) or within 22 weeks (for a hearing). In Wales
we will try to complete the appeal process within 15 weeks of receiving
your appeal forms for both written procedure and hearings.

7 Written procedure

7.1 With this type of appeal we consider written evidence (representations)
from you and the council. The council will send us copies of any letters
of objection or support, which they received when they were considering
your application to display the advertisement.

7.2 You and the council must send us your representations on time to make
sure that the appeal is not delayed. Within three weeks of receiving your
appeal forms, the council will send a copy of their representations to us
as well as to you. If you have comments on the council’s statement, you
must send them to us within two weeks. You must also send a copy to
the council. Unless this further correspondence raises new issues, the
appeal will go ahead. Our Inspector will be alone when inspecting the
site and after careful consideration will issue a decision on your appeal.

8 Hearing procedure

8.1 Hearings allow you and the council to exchange views and discuss your
appeal. We will speak to you and the council to find a suitable date for a
hearing. We expect you and the council to accept any reasonable date we
offer unless there are exceptional reasons why you cannot do this.

8.2 Before the hearing the council should send a copy of their statement to
us as well as to you. You can comment on their statement in writing.
Otherwise we will treat the reasons given in your appeal form as the
basis of your case for discussion.

8.3 Hearings are usually held in council offices. In some cases they are held
close to the appeal site, for example a village hall or community centre.
They normally start at 10 am. Most last about two hours.

8.4 Our Inspector leads the discussion and invites the people involved to put
their points across. This is carried out in an orderly, but informal way,
without the need for cross examination or legal representation. Generally
there is no need for you to have a professional person to represent you.

8.5 A hearing generally follows the pattern shown below.

Opening the hearing, our Inspector will say what the appeal is about
and explain the proceedings.
You will be asked to put forward your case. The council may then
ask you questions about your proposals.
The council will be asked to present their case, which will be based
on their statement. You may then question them if you need to do
this.
Based on what you have heard, you will then have the chance to sum
up your argument.
Either you or the council may feel that money has been wasted by the
other’s unreasonable behaviour during the appeal. This is the time,
before the hearing proceedings are finished, to apply to our Inspector
for costs to get back any wasted money.

Our Inspector will visit the site before the hearing. Either you or the
council may ask to visit the site again with our Inspector. This will only
happen if you and the council can go together. In some cases, our
Inspector will suggest that some issues could be discussed on site. The
visit will allow you to point out features of the proposal and site.

Disabled people

We want all hearings to be held in buildings which give proper facilities
for disabled people. The council usually chooses and provides the
accommodation and we have asked them to pay particular attention to the
needs of disabled people. If you are disabled or anyone you know wants to
go to the hearing is disabled, contact the council to confirm they can make
proper arrangements such as parking spaces, access, seating
arrangements and so on.