Making your planning appeal
6 The hearing procedure
6.1 If you or the LPA don’t agree to the written procedure, there
will be a hearing or inquiry instead. Hearings are less formal than inquiries
and usually involve an open discussion led by the Inspector. You and
the LPA can ask for a hearing, but you don’t have the right to
one.
6.2 The hearing procedure is usually quicker and cheaper than an inquiry.
We will agree to a hearing whenever it is appropriate. Hearings aren’t
suitable for all appeals, especially those which are complicated or controversial,
or have caused a lot of local interest or where it is necessary to cross-examine
witnesses.
6.3 The rules for dealing with hearings are The Hearings Procedure Rules
(see appendix 1 for the full title). Like other procedures, there are
important time limits for you to send us your comments. The Inspector
will not normally consider any comments sent after the time limit ends,
instead we will send them back.
6.4 The timetable and stages of the appeal leading up to the hearing
are explained in section 4. If possible you should follow the guidelines on how to set out your statement in Appendix 4.
6.5 We will arrange a convenient time and date for the hearing. If you
can’t accept the first date we offer, we will set another date
for the hearing, which we will expect you to come to. We will give you
and the LPA at least four weeks’ notice of the hearing date.
6.6 We will ask the LPA to let interested people know about it. They
may also advertise it in a local newspaper if they think it’s necessary.
6.7 At the hearing, the Inspector will lead an informal discussion on
the main issues. People don’t usually have a legal representative
with them at hearings.
The hearing site visit
6.8 The Inspector will decide whether they will visit the site or continue
the discussion at the site. They will tell you this at the hearing.
6.9 At the site visit you can point out physical features about the
site and its surroundings. You can discuss your proposals if the Inspector
agrees.
People with disabilities
6.10 We want to hold all hearings 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 hearing and you have particular needs, please contact the LPA
to
confirm they can make proper arrangements.
See the diagram of the hearing procedure at appendix 3.
