Guidance

Appeal an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) decision 

Updated 24 November 2025

Applies to England

• Publication for Northern Ireland
• Publication for Scotland
• Publication for Wales

You can submit an appeal if you object to any of the following decisions that might be made by us under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999.  

‘Stage 1’ decisions where we:  

• gave a ‘stage 1’ opinion that your project requires ‘stage 2’ consent (note that this does not apply if your project falls within the EIA thresholds as either a ‘Basic Notification’ or ‘Full Notification’)  
• failed to give a ‘stage 1’ opinion within 28 days of your application, or such longer period as we have agreed between us (note that this does not apply to applications made in relation to grant funding or felling licences)  

‘Stage 2’ decisions where we:  

• refuse to grant ‘stage 2’ consent to a relevant forestry project  
• grant ‘stage 2’ consent subject to conditions in addition to those required by the regulations  
• grant ‘stage 2’ consent subject only to the conditions required by the regulations (as set out below), but with specified timescales less than the maximum period permitted  

There is no time limit for appealing a ‘stage 1’ decision. For ‘stage 2’ decisions, your appeal must be made within 28 days of receiving our ‘stage 2’ decision.  

The conditions required by the regulations for every ‘stage 2’ consent granted are such that:  

• work in relation to the relevant project must be started within a maximum of 5 years following the date consent is granted, and we may specify that work is commenced sooner  
• no work shall be carried out in relation to the relevant project after a maximum of 10 years following the date consent is granted, and we may specify that work is completed sooner  

How do I appeal?  

Your appeal must be made in writing to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and must include all of the following:  

• the application to which it relates, and any documents provided by the applicant to the Forestry Commission in relation to it  
• the decision of the Forestry Commission (if we have provided one)  
• any other information or representations that you wish to provide or make  

Submit your appeal online to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs using the Defra contact form.

You can upload files up to 50MB in size using the contact form.

If you are submitting supporting documents that exceed 50MB, use the contact form to indicate they are too large to upload.

Defra will contact you with instructions on how to submit your documents.

You may submit a hard copy of your appeal to:  

Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Seacole Building  
2 Marsham Street  
London  
SW1P 4DF  

We strongly recommend that you send a copy of your appeal to the Forestry Commission. This helps ensure your submission is acknowledged and provides evidence of when you submitted your appeal, as there is a strict time limit.  

Send by email to: commissioners@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

You may submit a hard copy of your appeal to:

Commissioners’ Office
Forestry Commission
620 Bristol Business Park
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol
BS16 1EJ

What happens after I submit an appeal?  

In relation to a ‘stage 1’ appeal, the Secretary of State will make a ‘stage 1’ decision, known as a ‘direction’, in relation to your proposal in accordance with the regulations.  

In relation to a ‘stage 2’ appeal, the Secretary of State will request information from us, which we must provide within 28 days. The Secretary of State will then make a decision within a further 28 days, or any longer period as required, from the date of our response. The decision will be sent to you (the appellant), our Commissioners’ Office and any of our representatives in relation to the application.  

The Secretary of State may dismiss or uphold the appeal. If they grant consent, they may grant it either only with the conditions required under the regulations, or also include further conditions.  

Appealing an EIA enforcement notice  

You may submit an appeal if you object to an enforcement notice served under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999.

The Forestry Commission may serve an enforcement notice where it appears that you have carried out or are in the process of carrying out works in relation to a relevant project and either of the following apply:  

• you have done or are doing so without consent, where consent is required  
• the works are in breach of a condition subject to which consent has been granted  

Your appeal must be made within 28 days of receipt of the enforcement notice, and must include all of the following:  

• the enforcement notice  
• any relevant ‘stage 2’ consent from the Forestry Commission (if you applied for and received one)  
• any other information or representations that you wish to provide or make  

Submit your appeal online to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs using the Defra contact form.

You can upload files up to 50MB in size using the contact form.

If you are submitting supporting documents that exceed 50MB, use the contact form to indicate they are too large to upload.

Defra will contact you with instructions on how to submit your documents.

You may submit a hard copy of your appeal to:  

Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Seacole Building  
2 Marsham Street  
London  
SW1P 4DF  

We strongly recommend that you send a copy of your appeal to the Forestry Commission. This helps ensure your submission is acknowledged and provides evidence of when you submitted your appeal, as there is a strict time limit.  

Send by email to: commissioners@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

You may submit a hard copy of your appeal to:

Commissioners’ Office
Forestry Commission
620 Bristol Business Park
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol
BS16 1EJ

Following receipt of the appeal, the Secretary of State will request information from us, which we must provide within 28 days. The Secretary of State will then make a decision within a further 28 days, or any longer period as required, from the date of our response. The decision will be sent to you (the appellant) and to our Commissioners’ Office.  

The Secretary of State may dismiss or uphold the appeal or vary any part of the Enforcement Notice. Where the notice was served because of works being carried out in relation to a relevant project without consent, and the Secretary of State agrees that consent was required and has not been granted, then they will dismiss any appeal.