Planning Inspectorate Newsletter - Issue 10
The Registration of Planning Appeals is Back on Track 
In Issue 9 of the Newsletter readers were told of the backlog of new appeals that had been rising steadily since the middle part of 2007. I said then that with the measures we were taking I was confident that the backlog would be eliminated over the coming months.
I am, therefore, delighted to be able to say that despite receipts in the 3 months to June showing no signs of a reduction, we are now, typically, registering new appeals within 3 days of them being received.
It is too early to say whether my plea for users of the system to take more care over the submission of appeals has had an effect, but to those of you who have heeded the message may I say ‘thank you’.
Without wishing to end on a negative note, I should like to take this opportunity to mention that it is becoming increasingly common for appellants/agents to either print or download from local planning authority websites the documents to be submitted in support of a planning appeal. This practice is perfectly understandable given that most local planning authority websites make such information easily available. However, while this is not a problem where documents such as 
the application form and decision notice etc are concerned (providing we can see that they were signed and dated), the same cannot be said for plans and drawings where the quality of the scanned image can vary considerably. Too often the plans/drawings submitted with the appeal are found to be lacking in detail or have not been printed to scale on the correct size paper.
It is essential for the Inspector to have clear and accurate plans/drawings, and so where such documents are found to be of poor quality or not to scale, we will request true copies. This will inevitably mean that the starting of the appeal is delayed, but you can help avoid this by making sure the plans/drawings sent with the appeal are clear, accurate and to scale. If the plans/drawings are submitted electronically please indicate the paper size on which they are to be printed: this can be stated in the electronic file name or listed in a separate document.
Si Bliss
Section Manager
Planning Casework Service Registration
