25. An appellant may withdraw the appeal at anytime, as long as written
notification is sent to the Planning Inspectorate and a copy sent to
the authority.

Confidentiality

26. In cases where the appellant considers that matters of
confidentiality will arise during the appeal, the case may be recovered for decision by the Secretary of State. However, if the confidentiality issues are minor points in the appeal then the Inspector will decide the appeal but deal with the points in confidence.

Assessors

27. Exceptionally, in some inquiry cases, an assessor may be appointed
by the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State to advise the Inspector on specific technical matters. The assessor will sit alongside the Inspector and consider the representations made. The assessor will write a report to the Inspector, the contents which will be made public (unless issues of confidentiality are involved) when the decision is issued.

28. Where an assessor is appointed, everyone entitled to appear at the inquiry will be notified of the assessor’s name and the matters on which he or she is to advise the Inspector.

Costs

29. You and the authority pay your own expenses for an appeal.
However, if the appeal is to be decided by a hearing or an inquiry, in most cases, you can ask that the authority be ordered to pay all or part of your costs. The authority has the same right to ask you to pay some or all of their costs.

30. Applications for costs are normally heard towards the end of the proceedings and will only be allowed if the party claiming the costs can show that the other side behaved unreasonably and put them to unnecessary expense.

Complaints about the decision

31. Once the decision letter has been sent to the appellant, either by the Secretary of State or the Inspector, that decision is final. The Secretary of State, or the Inspector, can no longer consider further representations or make any further comments on the merits or otherwise of the case.

Complaints about the Planning Inspectorate

32. The letters acknowledging receipt of the appeal will give the name of
the Case Officer. The Case Officer should be the first person contacted with any queries or complaints about the handling of the appeal. If this is not satisfactory the Complaints Officer can be contacted at the following address:
The Complaints Officer
The Planning Inspectorate
Room 4/09 Kite Wing
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
BRISTOL BS2 9DJ
Tel 0117 987 8927