A few days ago, the Government published its new procedural guide for how planning appeals will work from 1 April. It’s fair to say that the consequences for ‘interested parties’ like town and parish councils and community groups will be profound and will require them to reorganise how they comment on planning applications.

There are two main differences: the planning inspector will decide the appeal on the same basis and information as the planning application was decided. The main parties will not submit new evidence for the appeal. Additionally, a wider range of appeals will be included as a part 1 process, specifically: the refusal of planning permission or reserved matters; the imposition of conditions on approvals; the refusal of prior notification or prior approval