Guidance

Making your appeal: How to complete your advertisement/discontinuance notice appeal form

Updated 26 April 2023

1. Introduction

Before you make your appeal, you should enter into discussions with the local planning authority (LPA). We encourage you to continue these discussions, during the appeal. This will help to narrow the areas in dispute. You should make your appeal only when all else has failed.

2. System availability and system requirements

Our online facilities will usually be available 24 hours a day. We will sometimes need to take the system out of service for a while to implement upgrades. Wherever possible, we will do this outside of usual office hours.

Please see our guide to communicating electronically with us.

3. Registration

You need to create an account with us to make an appeal or make representations on an appeal. Registering will enable you to access our full range of electronic services, including a personal homepage.

To create an account or log in if you already registered, please use the Appeals Casework Portal.

3.1 Personal homepage

There are six headings on your personal homepage:

• Make a new appeal – you can submit a new appeal here
• My cases – You can view your submitted appeal forms here - these will not be editable as they have already been submitted to us (you will have been emailed a PDF version of any appeal form you have submitted)
• My representations – You can view your submitted representations here - this will include any representations you have submitted for your own cases and any representations which you may have submitted for other cases which you are interested in (these will not be editable as they have already been submitted to us - you will have been emailed a PDF version of the form upon submission)
• Search for a case/submit representation - search for a case using the quick search facility using the 7-digit case reference number or you can search using other criteria (such as site address) with our advanced search
• Awaiting submissions - access any of your appeals or representations which you are still working on using this facility - please note that any appeals or representations which are still awaiting submission after 180 days will be automatically deleted
• Watched cases - watch any cases which are of interest to you using this facility. Once you have found a case which you want to follow, you can click the ‘Watch case’ button on the Case Summary screen. The case will then be added to your ‘Watched cases’ list. If at any time you want to remove the case from your list, simply click the ‘Stop watching’ button on the Case Summary screen or click the red ‘x’ button on your homepage.

3.2 My details

This is where all the details you entered when creating your account are held. If at any time your details change, you should make amendments to them through this page. It is your responsibility to ensure that your details are kept up to date.

You cannot change your name once your account has been created.

If you make a change to your address details, telephone number or fax number then these details will be updated instantly on your account.

If you change your email address, you will be sent an email confirming this change and asking you to verify the new email address. Once verified, your account will be updated.

You can change your password using the ‘Change Password’ button. You will be sent an email confirming that a change has been made. You will then need to log into your account again, using your new password.

4. Before you make an appeal - deadlines and eligibility

4.1 Application Deadline

The LPA should decide your advertisement consent application within 8 weeks of the day they received the application.

4.2 Appeal deadlines

We must receive notice of the appeal:

• If the LPA refused your advertisement consent application or granted it subject to conditions you object to, within 8 weeks from the date of the LPA’s decision notice
• If the appeal is against the failure of the LPA to give notice of their decision (non-determination), within 8 weeks from the expiry of the period which the LPA had to determine the application
• If you’ve been sent a discontinuance notice, before the effective date on the notice

If we do not receive your appeal and supporting documents within the time limit, we will not accept your appeal.

4.3 Who can appeal

Only the person who made the application can make the appeal. For appeals against a discontinuance notice only people with an interest in the site can make an appeal.

4.4 Application for appeal costs

You and the LPA normally must meet your own appeal expenses.

If a party does not behave reasonably during the appeal process, they leave themselves open to costs being awarded against them. This would be on the basis that the behaviour had directly caused another party to incur expenses that would not otherwise have been necessary.

Costs may be awarded in response to an application for costs by one of the parties. Also, the Inspector may make an award of costs even if none of the parties have made an application.

There is guidance about costs awards in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ (DLUHC) planning practice guidance.

Before you appeal, it is important that you read this guidance because it explains how, and on what basis you can make an application or have an application made against you.

You will be asked a series of questions about your appeal, with each answer you give determining the next question. You may need to consult your application documents, including any decision issued from your LPA.

5. Completing the appeal form

Once you have logged into your account, start the appeal process by clicking on ‘Make a new appeal’. In this section, we use the same headers as within the appeal form.

5.1 Enter the name of your local planning authority

Here you should type in the name of your local planning authority. As you type, possible matches will be returned. You can then select the correct one from the list. Note you cannot change your local authority once you are in the appeal form.

5.2 Selecting your appeal form

You will be asked a series of questions about your appeal, with each answer you give determining the next question. You may need to consult your application documents, including any decision issued from your LPA.

If you want to make an appeal in relation to more than one application, you must make a separate appeal for each.

If you believe that you may have selected the wrong from, please select the ‘Restart’ button to begin the appeals process again.

5.3 Meaningful name

This name will be used to identify this appeal on your personal homepage. Please use a name that clearly identifies the appeal to you, for example, the first line of the site address. This is particularly important if you are an agent who may be dealing with multiple cases.

5.4 Appellant details

The details registered to your account will be displayed. If for any reason your details have changed since you created your account, you should change them through the ‘My Details’ link at the top of the page.

If you are an unrepresented appellant and you prefer to be contacted by email, where possible, we will send you our letters and appeals correspondence by email and we will not send paper copies.

5.5 Agent Details

You do not have to employ an agent to handle your appeal. If you decide to employ an agent, they will probably complete the appeal form for you.

If you have an agent, we will send all our communications to them. We will not send a copy to you. The only exception to this is that we will send you and your agent a copy of the appeal decision. You should ensure that you keep in touch with your agent about the appeal arrangements, particularly if “access required” site visit is arranged.

If you prefer to be contacted by email, where possible, we will send you our letters and appeals correspondence by email and we will not send paper copies.

If you are the agent completing the form, by selecting ‘No’ to the question ‘Are you the appellant?’ the details registered to your account will be displayed on the Agent Details section of the form.

5.6 Local Planning Authority Details

This information will usually be in the letter you received from the LPA confirming that your advertisement consent application was valid and on the decision notice if one was issued.

If the LPA did not validate or register your application, you should send us any relevant correspondence they sent to you.

The name of the LPA will have transferred through to the form from when you entered it at the start of the process. If you need to change the LPA, you will need to restart from your homepage.

5.7 Appeal site details

The appeal site must be the same as the site given in the advertisement consent application or on the discontinuance notice. If you confirm that the address of the affected land is the same as the appellant’s address then this information will transfer over from the Appellant Details section (provided you have completed the Appellant Details section before the Appeal Site Details section).

Does the appeal relate to an existing property?

If the address of the affected building is not the same as the appellant’s address you will be asked an additional question as to whether the appeal relates to an existing property. If it does, you can use the address finder to complete your details quickly.

Postcode

If the appeal site does not have a postcode, please provide the postcode of the nearest building. Also please provide information to help us identify the site for example, a map or plan showing the site and at least 2 named or numbered local roads and/or a grid reference or you can enter the street name into Royal Mail post code finder to generate a postcode.

Health and safety at the site

The site is likely to be inspected during the course of the appeal and the Inspector needs to be made aware of any potential problems.

We take seriously our duties regarding the health and safety of our employees and those affected by our work. Inspectors may abort the site visit if the conditions on site are unsatisfactory. Failure to provide the necessary information may therefore result in a delay to your appeal.

The following questions indicate the type of information we need about the appeal site, such as the condition of the land or any building to be entered. Please note that the questions do not actually feature on the appeal form. The information should be supplied within the free text field underneath the Health and Safety question.

1. Will the Inspector be expected to wear Personal Protection Equipment? Please give details

2. Are any building works or other operations taking place on the site? If it is a workplace, is there a risk assessment in place for visitors?

3. Are there any animals (for example, pets or livestock) within the site? If so, you must ensure that all animals (both livestock and pets) will be kept away from the area to be visited

4. Is the site remote or in an area likely to have a poor mobile phone signal?

5. Are there any areas that require specialist equipment or training for access for example, confined spaces or use of ladders / scaffolding? If a ladder will be used, you must explain why and give details of the heights involved and arrangements for securing the ladder.

6. Does the Inspector need to be aware of specific dangers within the site? This would include uneven surfaces, equipment or substances kept at the site, risk of exposure to chemicals, asbestos or radiation.

7. Will it be necessary to view the site from a height, for example, from a roof or balcony? Are any railings or guards in place?

8. Are there any site-specific safety arrangements in place?

9. Is the site accessible for persons with limited mobility?

10. Is there any overgrown vegetation that could restrict access to the site? If so, you will need to ensure that the site is made accessible to our Inspector and any other people accompanying them

You must also inform us of any relevant changes to the site which occur in the period leading up to the planned site visit date.

5.8 Description of advertisement(s)

Advertisement appeals

You need to provide details of the proposed advertisement. This should normally be precisely as you described it on the application form. However, if during the consideration of your application you have agreed a revised description of the advertisement with the LPA, you should use that. Please provide the documents which give details of the revision and which confirm your agreement and the LPA’s agreement to the revision.

Discontinuance notice appeals

You need to provide details of the existing advertisement. This will normally be as it is described in the discontinuance notice.

5.9 Reason for the appeal

The reason for the appeal will already be selected as you did this at the start of the process. You will be unable to edit this section as it will be locked down.

The reason will have transferred through to the form from when you entered it at the start of the process. If you need to change the reason you will need to start a new form from your homepage.

5.10 Choice of procedure

There are 2 possible procedures for the determination of an appeal: written representations or a hearing. We will decide which procedure your appeal should follow. Our decision will be based on the criteria for procedure determination. We will also take into account any views you have expressed about which procedure would be most suitable for your case and the views of the LPA.

You should note if we decide at the initial stage that the appeal should proceed as a hearing we will, based on the criteria, also subsequently consider whether a ‘combined procedure’ would be appropriate. For example, a hearing with some elements dealt with by written representations.

We will keep the determined procedure, including any combined procedure, under review during the appeal and may change it at any point before a decision on the appeal is made.

Please use our criteria for procedure determination before choosing your preferred procedure.

The written representations procedure

This is normally the simplest, quickest and most straightforward way of making an appeal. The majority of advertisement appeals proceed by the written procedure. The Inspector will visit the site, usually unaccompanied

There are two written representations procedures – the part 1 procedure and the part 2 procedure. See section 9 of the Planning Procedural Guide for further information.

Where the appeal is against the LPA’s refusal of an application for express advertisement consent it will follow the shorter part 1 procedure.

Appeals against the failure of the LPA to determine an application for express advertisement consent, the conditional grant of consent or the service of a discontinuance notice will follow the part 2 procedure.

The hearing procedure

This procedure is likely to be suited to cases which require testing of evidence or clarification through questioning to establish the facts.

If you have chosen a hearing you should explain on the appeal form (or in a separate document if necessary) why you think a hearing is necessary.

See 10 of the Planning Appeals Procedural Guide for a more detailed explanation of the hearing procedure.

5.11 Grounds of appeal

Your grounds of appeal should be in full when making the appeal. For appeals against the LPA’s refusal of an application for express advertisement consent following the part 1 procedure there will be no opportunity to add to it at a later stage.

Do not repeat the LPA’s reasons for refusal, but you should include a clear explanation of why you disagree with each of them. It is not enough to say that you do not accept them – this will not help the Inspector decide your appeal.

If your appeal follows the LPA’s decision to refuse permission to vary or remove a condition you should state which conditions your appeal relates to.

Failure to determine

If you are appealing against the LPA’s failure to determine your application, it will be helpful to tell us why you think that permission should be granted. If possible, you should also refer to relevant policies in the development plan and/or any supplementary planning documents published by the LPA.

Local policies

The LPA’s decision notice will refer to policies in the Development Plan and/or supplementary planning documents in the Local Development Framework. Do not describe any local policies in full. Simply give the number and the name of the relevant development plan or supplementary planning document and give paragraph numbers if appropriate. The LPA will provide these to the Inspector, so you do not need to. However, before making your appeal you should read the policies referred to. You should include in your grounds of appeal why you think that any policy referred to in the notice is not relevant or why the proposed development complies with it.

If you think there are other relevant policies which the LPA have not referred to in their decision notice but which you will rely on, you should attach the relevant extracts and include them with your appeal. You should indicate their status, that is, whether they have been adopted by the LPA and/or have been saved by a direction of the Secretary of State and form part of the Local Development Framework.

If you consider it essential to provide email trails to support your grounds of appeal, you should consider if the final email in a trail contains the key points – so you would only need to provide that. If this is not possible, cross through any repetition in related emails so that the key points can be clearly picked up.

Previous decisions

It will be helpful to attach previous decisions by the LPA or on an appeal if they are directly relevant, but you should explain why they are relevant.

Similar developments

You may include details of similar developments in the immediate area if you think these are relevant. You should identify them on a street map and supply their addresses and, where possible, photographs of them. Where you are aware of the history of any such development you should set it out briefly in your grounds or in a separate annexe.

Planning conditions

You should indicate if you wish to accept or can suggest planning conditions that you think would mitigate the impact of the development if the appeal is successful.

You should look at:

• DLUHC’s planning practice guidance on the use of planning conditions
• Appendix A – “Suggested Models of Acceptable Conditions for Use in Appropriate Circumstances” (which is still in existence) to Circular 11/95: Use of conditions in planning permission (which has been cancelled).

The fact that conditions are suggested does not mean that the appeal will be allowed and planning permission granted or that, if allowed, conditions will be imposed.

Costs application

If you want to make a costs application please select ‘yes’ and attach the application. See the ‘Application for appeal costs’ under the ‘Before you appeal’ section of this guide.

5.12 Supporting documentation

If we do not receive all your essential appeal documents listed on the appeal form by the end of the appeal period we will not be able to proceed with it and you will lose your right to appeal. We do not ‘chase’ missing documents, so make sure that you have sent us everything; if not your appeal will be delayed or possibly turned away.

All documents should be submitted at the time of your appeal. You should submit all documents using the portal. Sending documents by email may delay your appeal.

Any supporting documentation should be essential and directly relevant to the appeal. Such documentation should be clearly cross-referenced to your grounds of appeal.

You should list all the plans/drawings that you are sending to us and include their reference to the scale, orientation, and paper size. You should send us copies of all plans sent to the LPA with your application (including plans which have been superseded, you should clearly mark these “superseded”).

There is limited scope to consider revised proposals at appeal stage. If exceptionally you want to put forward revised proposals at the appeal stage, you should send them with the appeal documents. Late submission can cause delays and lead to a claim for costs. If you send revised plans when making your appeal, the Inspector will decide whether or not to consider them. For a more detailed explanation of proposing amendments, see 16 of the Planning Appeals Procedural Guide.

You may wish to send appendices to your representations. These can include reports and information that relate directly to the case and in response to the reason for refusal (if any). Revised proposals which seek to overcome the LPA’s reasons for refusal should normally be sent to the LPA as a new application. Appendices should be used sparingly.

You may use photographs (preferably in colour) to support your grounds of appeal – for example to show the site and its relationship to its neighbours. If you send photographs you must give details of where they were taken, on a map showing the viewpoints, and when and what they show. If you take photographs in public places, please take reasonable care to respect the privacy of individuals whose images you may accidentally capture. We are unable to return photographs.

We will return any audio/video evidence sent to us. We cannot accept audio or video evidence, as we cannot be sure that everyone involved has exactly the same version or that they have the equipment needed to access the evidence. However, you may send a written summary.

If the appeal will proceed by a hearing, you may ask the Inspector at the event if they are willing to accept the audio/video evidence and allow it to be played at the hearing.

It is your responsibility to contact the LPA to find out whether it has suitable equipment at the venue to access the evidence, or if it will allow you to use your own. The equipment must be suitable to play the evidence so that everyone can see/hear it.

If the evidence is accepted by the Inspector it will become part of the hearing evidence and will be retained by the Inspector. You will need to have additional of the audio/video evidence available as if the Inspector allows it to be played these copies will be given to the main parties our case officer will be able to tell you how many copies you will need to provide.

5.13 Other appeals

If you have made any other related appeals which have not yet been decided on this site or for nearby sites please supply the reference numbers. Where practical, and depending on the relevant timescales, we may consider related cases together.

5.14 Submitting your appeal

You must read this section carefully and then check the box to confirm you have read the content.

To find out more about how we use and manage your personal data, please go to our privacy notice. Before submitting your appeal, please familiarize yourself with the approach, outlined in our privacy notice, to handling sensitive information (known as ‘special category data’) and potentially inflammatory comments.

You should ensure that you send a copy of the completed appeal form and a copy of any supporting documents you are sending to us and to the LPA. If you choose to send us a copy of a proof of posting, you should also send a copy of that to the LPA.

Further instructions on how to send the documents to the LPA are within the confirmation of appeal email which you will receive upon successful submission of your appeal form.

6. Contacting us

The Planning Inspectorate Customer Support Team
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Bristol
BS1 6PN

Customer Form: Customer Services and general enquiries.

Telephone: 0303 444 5000

Email: enquiries@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

7. Troubleshooting

If you are experiencing issues, please attempt the following:

• Ensure that your internet browser has JavaScript enabled, which is usually the default setting
• Ensure that cookies are allowed
• Ensure that the web address https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/planning-inspectorate is not added to the IE proxy server exceptions

Note – This is normally only applicable to corporate networks.

8. How we use your information

The Planning Inspectorate takes its data protection responsibilities for the information you provide us with very seriously. To find out more about how we use and manage your personal data, please go to our privacy notice.