Planning Inspectorate Newsletter - Special Edition

Planning Appeal Process Film

A film about the processing of planning appeals was unveiled by the Planning Inspectorate in Newcastle at the Local Government Association Urban Conference and Exhibition.  The film highlights to local planning authorities and developers that:

• over the last year the Inspectorate has more than halved the period within which inquiry and hearings dates are arranged;  the Inspectorate now aims to fix all such events within targets set by Ministers
• the Inspectorate is now up to date with the registration of new appeals and is on track to meet Ministerial targets for the current financial year, with the substantial backlogs of previous years now largely cleared;
• developers should avoid submitting appeals until they are ready with all necessary information and should discuss the availability of their teams with the LPA before submitting an appeal.  The Inspectorate will try to accommodate such dates if possible;
• the Inspectorate’s aim is to reduce the rate of refusals of first offer dates for inquiries - currently standing at over 66%;  developers should avoid “case creep”:  ie submitting major amendments to the appeal scheme at or close to the opening of the inquiry. The Inspectorate will resist requests for abeyance and postponements and will urge withdrawal if the parties are not ready to proceed;
• appellants and LPAs should, where appropriate, fully agree Statements of Common Ground and submit them well before the start of the inquiry.  This will reduce the inquiry documentation and (potentially) the length of the inquiries;
• parties should ensure that their Rule 6 Statements of case contain all of the required detail to inform the inquiry process.  Parties should liaise with one another and with the Inspectorate at all stages to ensure that all necessary documentation is in place before an inquiry begins and that adequate time is allocated for its completion without the need to adjourn;  and
• appellants and LPAs should comply with the appeals timetable or face the Inspector determining the appeal on the material available.  Moreover, parties may be at risk of a costs application if an Inspector finds that a party’s unreasonable behaviour led to an adjournment to consider critical documents which should have been submitted to timetable.

View the Film

The following articles related to these issues have appeared in the Planning Inspectorate’s Newsletter:
     

Ben Linscott – Cancelled and Adjourned Planning Inquries

Martin Edwards –The Statement of Common Ground: A Missed Opportunity?

The next full issue of our Newsletter will be issued in a few weeks time and will include articles on:

• Appeal Registration
• Consistency and Previous Appeal Decisions
• Transfer of the Regional Spatial Strategy Budget to the Planning Inspectorate
  
  

Contact

If you wish to subscribe/unsubscribe to this newsletter please contact the Planning Inspectorate Webteam.