Making your planning appeal
7 The inquiry procedure
7.1 The rules that govern appeals decided by inquiry are called the Inquiries Procedure Rules (see appendix 1 for the full title). There are two sets of rules depending on whether an Inspector or the Secretary of State will decide your appeal.
7.2 The early stages of your appeal will be as described in section 4. But there are some more things you and the LPA will have to do.
7.3 We hold an inquiry if you or the LPA decide that you can’t 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 tell you about any change.
7.4 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 shouldn’t be more than 20 weeks after the starting date for appeals decided by Inspectors, and 22 weeks for appeals decided by the Secretary of State. If we can’t keep to these dates, the Secretary of State 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
7.5 You and the LPA must send us two copies of the case (together with a list of any documents and plans) you each intend to make at the inquiry. You must send these within six weeks of the starting date. The statement will be available for the public to look at. 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 proposal.
7.6 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 people and anyone else who has a right to comment. You and the LPA can make written comments on these.
Proof of evidence
7.7 If you, or any of your witnesses, have a statement that is going to be read out at the inquiry (a ‘proof of evidence’), you must send two copies at least four weeks before the inquiry. The LPA must do the same. We will send a copy of your proof of evidence to the LPA and a copy of theirs to you. If the statement is more than 1,500 words long there should also be a summary. The summary should reflect the content of the proof and should not introduce new evidence. Where a summary is provided, usually only that will be read at the inquiry. If you or the LPA don’t do this, the inquiry may be stopped for a time and you or the LPA may have to pay costs.
Statement of common ground
7.8 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 you must send us a written copy of what you have both agreed. This is called a ‘statement of common ground’. The inspector may question the information in the statement.
Advertising the inquiry
7.9 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 it isn’t your land, 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 or affected by the proposals.
At the inquiry
7.10 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.
7.11 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.
7.12 The inspector will decide the order of presentation of opening statements and evidence, but usually you or your representative will be asked to make a brief opening statement first, to set the scene and describe the nature of the scheme. The LPA will then make their opening statement and move on to present their case, and call any witnesses. After that, you or your representative will present your case and call any witnessses, and the LPA and the inspector can ask you and your witnesses any questions they have.
7.13 If you don’t own all the appeal site, the other owners can also speak and question the witnesses. After this, other interested people – for example, neighbours or representatives of local amenity societies – will usually have a chance to put their point of view. 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 people or groups who can’t be there in person. 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 can’t introduce new arguments.
7.14 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 and reported fairly.
Representatives of public bodies
7.15 If a government department or another local authority has told or asked the LPA not to give planning permission, or to put conditions on it, and the LPA has agreed, you can ask us to arrange for the organisation concerned to send a representative to the inquiry. You must do this, in writing, at least 14 days before the inquiry is due to start. You can question or cross-examine the representative about their evidence.
7.16 If your proposal involves the development of agricultural land, the LPA may need technical help from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). If so, they should send us a copy of the DEFRA report on the agricultural aspects of the case. We can also ask DEFRA for a report. In this case we will send you a copy. If you or the LPA want to question a representative from DEFRA, you can ask us to arrange it. DEFRA don’t have to send a representative to every appeal involving agricultural land. But they do if their report is quoted in the LPA statement and has influenced the decision.
7.17 If your proposal involves storing dangerous materials, or if the site is near to where dangerous materials are stored, the Health and Safety Executive may have made a report to the LPA. Once again, they should send someone to answer questions if we ask them to.
7.18 The LPA can use representatives of government departments and other public bodies as witnesses. They can be questioned or cross-examined.
The inquiry site visit
7.19 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 can’t say anything about the appeal proposals.
Late comments
7.20 The Inspector will only consider any evidence we receive after the inquiry has closed in extraordinary circumstances. If we get new evidence after the inquiry but before we issue the Inspector’s decision, we will pass it to the Inspector to decide if they will consider it. If, in very unusual circumstances they do, we will pass it on to the other people who were involved in the inquiry. If necessary, we will re-open the inquiry.
People with disabilities
7.21 We want to hold all inquiries 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
7.22 Sometimes, if a lot of people want to go to 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 eight days.
7.23 This type of meeting will only deal with things like the order
in which you, the LPA and any other people will present their evidence.
You cannot discuss your appeal representations at this meeting.
See the diagram of the inquiry procedure at appendix 3.
