29. An appellant may withdraw the appeal at any time, as long as written notification is sent to the Planning Inspectorate and a copy sent to the Environment Agency.

Confidentiality

30. In cases where the appellant considers that matters of confidentiality will arise during the appeal, the case may be recovered for the Secretary of State to decide. However, if these are minor points in the appeal then the Inspector will decide the appeal but deal with these points in confidence. Some cases involving financial guarantees may be considered in this way.

Assessors

31. 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 issues. The assessor will write a report to the Inspector, and the contents of which will be made public (unless issues of confidentiality are involved) when the decision is issued.

32. 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

33. You and the Environment Agency normally have to pay your own expenses for an appeal, however, if the appeal is to be decided by a hearing or an inquiry, costs may be awarded against you or the Agency for unreasonable behaviour in the conduct of proceedings which lead to unnecessary or wasted costs.

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

35. Following an application for costs the Inspector or the Secretary of State will act in the spirit of Circular 8/93 – The Award of Costs in Planning and Order Proceedings. Schedule 20 paragraph 5 of the Environment Act 1995 applies Section 250 of the Local Government Act to hearings and inquiries.

Complaints against the Decision

36. Once the decision notice has been sent to the appellant, either by the Secretary of State or the Inspector, the 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.

37. The decision can only be challenged in the courts by judicial review. If the appeal is quashed following the proceedings before any court, the main parties will be notified and asked to provide any further representations within 28 days. The Secretary of State may then ask for a hearing to be held or re-opened and the appeal will be re-determined.

Complaints about the Planning Inspectorate

38. The letter acknowledging receipt of the appeal will give the name of the Case Officer. The Case Officer should be the first person contacted with the 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, BS1 6PN Tel 0117 372 8334.