Planning Appeal Changes: Getting it Right First Time

In another new planning announcement last week, MCHLG has explained their intention to make changes to written representations appeals:

In their introduction, the government tell us that: "In 2009, the “expedited” part 1 written representations process was introduced. It is a simpler process than other processes for dealing with appeals and allows the Planning Inspectorate to reach quicker, high quality decisions.

Currently, the regulations limit the type of appeals that can be dealt with using the part 1 process (namely, householder and minor commercial appeals)."

What are the proposed planning appeal changes?

The scope of the part 1 process will be expanded and changed. 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.

• 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

What is the impact?

Wicken Road - recent ONH success case

This means that for the majority of scenarios where the planning application has been refused by the local planning authority (LPA), and the appellant chooses to appeal this decision, there will be no opportunity for statutory consultees (including town and parish councils) to submit additional reports or evidence for or against the application.

The appellant and LPA will also be very limited in what additional information they can submit.

• The appellant is limited to "a brief statement explaining the LPA's decision and why they disagree."

• The LPA is limited to supplying the information and reports they used to make their decision, and minutes from committee meetings.

In cases where the planning committee votes against the officers recommendation, it will be very important that the Councillors are able to fully explain why they have chosen to reject the application, clearly explaining the issues using legitimate and robust reasons to justify planning refusal. This explanation will need to be recorded accurately for the minutes. This is because there will be no additional officer report written to explain the change between officer recommendation and outcome - the committees justification will stand alone alongside the officer's original report. Anyone speaking in the public session should also ensure their comments are minuted.

Are there any exceptions?

Yes, the government says that in 'exceptional circumstances' new evidence would be allowed to be submitted. It doesn't yet give examples of what may be considered exception circumstances. Updates to the appeal guidance is expected at a later stage.

When will the change be made?

It is expected that the change to the new rules will take place by the end of 2025.

What can town and parish councils do to best represent their location's interests?

It's important to note that no consultation on this change is expected, this means that councils will need to take a pragmatic approach and focus on considering how they might best react to the change.

This change - particularly in the context of the other consultations we have seen, including the proposals that officers make more planning decisions rather than committees, means that the quality of that first application response has become vitally important. For town and parish councils, it will be particularly important to read officers' reports carefully, correct errors, and to make a clear and robust planning-law based explanation of why they support or object to a particular development, at the first stage.

This puts town and parish councils in a particularly tricky position - we know that few have planning officers on staff, with responses to applications normally decided by full council or a planning committee and responsibility for drafting the final response delegated to the clerk. For complex or locally contentious applications, you may wish to consider securing a planning consultant to help you draft your response.

If you need help with planning responses, this is a service we offer for clients, with many successful cases. Please contact us.