Planning appeals guidance

• The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) [‘the 1990 Act’]
• The Town and Country Planning (Referred Applications and Appeals Procedure) (Wales) Regulations 2017 (as amended) [‘the Appeals Regulations’]
• The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order 2012 (as amended) [‘the DMPO’]

This guidance sets out how and when you can make a planning appeal and explains the main steps in the process. 

You may need to apply to your Local Planning Authority (LPA) for planning permission to undertake any building, engineering or other works, in, on, over or under land, or for the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land. 

Planning appeals made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) [‘the 1990 Act’] can be made against the decision of the LPA for the following reasons: 

• Refusal of planning permission;
• Approval of planning permission subject to conditions to which you object;
• Refusal of matters reserved under an outline planning permission;
• Approval of matters reserved under an outline planning permission subject to conditions which you object;
• Refusal to approve any matter required by a condition on an existing planning permission;
• The failure of the LPA to give its decision within the appropriate period (usually 8 weeks) on a planning application;
• The failure of the LPA to give its decision within the appropriate period in an application to discharge a planning condition.

Certain types of development are subject to a different application and appeal process. If your appeal relates to either a householder application or a minor commercial application, defined below, there is different guidance you will need to refer to.

‘Householder’ applications are defined in the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order 2012 (as amended) [‘the DMPO’] as applications for planning permission for the enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a dwellinghouse, or development within the curtilage of such a dwellinghouse, or change of use to enlarge the curtilage of a dwelling house. 

'Minor commercial’ applications are defined as applications for planning permission for the enlargement, improvement or other alteration of an existing commercial building of no more than 250 square metres floor space at ground floor level, or part of that building, for specified changes of use or the carrying out of building or other operations to a shop front.

Deadline for making an appeal

If the LPA refuse planning permission or grant it subject to conditions which you disagree with, you must appeal within 6 months of the date on the decision notice from your LPA.

If the LPA did not make a decision within 8 weeks, or within an extended time period that you have otherwise agreed with them, there is no deadline for you to submit your appeal. 

Before you make your appeal, you should discuss your proposal and the decision with your LPA. Resolving the issues with them in the first place could be the quickest and easiest way to reach a satisfactory resolution. 

If you want to appeal more than one planning application you must make a separate appeal for each. However, you can appeal several conditions on the same application in one appeal submission. 

Who can appeal

The applicant listed on the application form or an agent acting on their behalf can submit an appeal. 

If you are not the original applicant (for instance, if you’ve recently bought the site) and want to appeal, you need written permission from the original applicant(s). This makes you responsible for any appeal-related costs.

There is no right of appeal for other interested parties in the planning system in Wales. For example, if the LPA grant a person permission for development, there is no right of appeal for the owners of neighbouring properties.

LPA failure to make a decision: dual jurisdiction period

When an appeal has been made against the failure of the LPA to make a decision on the application within the appropriate period, there is a period of 4 weeks from receipt of the appeal in which the LPA has the opportunity to continue to determine the application.

If the LPA subsequently makes a decision to refuse planning permission before the end of the 4 week period the appeal must be treated as an appeal made against the refusal of planning permission and PEDW will give the appellant an opportunity to revise their full statement of case. 

If the LPA makes a decision to grant planning permission subject to conditions to which the appellant objects before the end of the 4 week period, PEDW will give the appellant the opportunity to proceed with the appeal as an appeal under section 78(1) against the grant of the application subject to conditions and to revise their full statement of case.

Planning appeals are processed in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Referred Applications and Appeals Procedure) (Wales) Regulations 2017 [‘the Appeal Regulations’]. 

Most planning appeals are decided by the written representation method. With this method of appeal, the Inspector considers written evidence from the appellant, the LPA and anyone else that has an interest in the appeal. The other possible procedures are a hearing, an inquiry or a combination of these. For all the procedures the Inspector will visit the appeal site. 

PEDW has the power to determine the most suitable procedure for an appeal. The choice of procedure is initially made by PEDW officers and later reviewed by the appointed Inspector after the exchange of written evidence. Additional information can be found in our guidance on the Choice of Procedure.

All evidence documents submitted with an appeal will be published on the Planning Casework Portal. Further information can be found in our privacy notice. If you have any queries about our policy or wish to make a request for your personal data then please contact us.

Planning appeals proceed under the written representations procedure, as follows: 

• The appellant submits a completed planning appeal form with their full statement of case within the required timescales as outlined above. A copy of the submission must be sent to PEDW and to the LPA. The written statement of case is the only opportunity to expand on the grounds of appeal and explain the reasons why you consider the appeal should succeed and must be provided at this stage. Guidance on how to make your case is included below.  
• PEDW will acknowledge that an appeal has been submitted. PEDW will undertake validation checks to ensure the appeal has been submitted in time and with all of the necessary documents.
• If the appeal is valid, PEDW will write to the appellant and the LPA confirming the start date for the appeal and estimated timescales for their decision. Please note that there may be a period of time between acknowledgement of receipt and completion of validation checks. Please see our service update for more details.
• PEDW will undertake a screening exercise to assess if the appeal should be accompanied by an Environmental Statement (ES). If an ES is required, PEDW will issue a screening direction to the appellant. This exercise must be completed before the timetable for the submission of evidence can begin. If the appeal is already accompanied by an ES, PEDW will assess the ES to ensure that it meets the minimum requirements of the EIA Regulations.
• Within 5 working days of the start date of the appeal, the LPA must notify any interested parties of the appeal and confirm that any comments from the application stage will be forwarded to PEDW and the appellant.
• The LPA should confirm whether they will rely on the questionnaire and supporting documents to make their case, or if they intend to submit a full statement of case which must be received by PEDW within 4 weeks of the start date for the appeal. The LPA must also send a copy of the questionnaire to the appellant.
• Interested parties may submit a new representation at appeal stage. There is no need to repeat what was submitted at application stage. The deadline for interested party representations is 4 weeks from the start date of the appeal.
• After the 4 week date, PEDW will send copies of any interested party representations to both the LPA and the appellant. If the LPA has submitted a statement of case PEDW will send a copy to the appellant. After the exchange of evidence, if the appellant, LPA or an interested party wish to submit written comments on the representations of any other party, they may submit them to PEDW. Any comments must be received by PEDW within 6 weeks of the start date of the appeal.
• PEDW will appoint a Planning Inspector to decide the appeal. The Inspector will visit the appeal site before making their decision. 

Timescales for planning appeals

PEDW aims to issue planning appeal decisions within a timescale that depends on the procedure the appeal follows:

1. For appeals proceeding by written representations only, PEDW aims to issue a decision within 14 weeks of the start date of the appeal
2. For appeals that require a hearing, PEDW aims to issue a decision within 21 weeks of the start date of the appeal
3. For appeals that require an inquiry, PEDW aims to issue a decision within 29 weeks of the start date of the appeal

Our preferred way of working is electronically. The easiest way to appeal is via the Casework Portal which enables PEDW to process and validate your appeal quicker than other methods. Alternatively, you can submit by post or email to PEDW.Casework@gov.wales. 

You must complete the planning appeal form and submit the essential supporting  documents: 

• your original application
• the site ownership certificate
• the LPA’s decision notice (if they did not make a decision, submit a copy of the letter acknowledging your application)
• all plans, drawings and documents that accompanied the original application
• all correspondence with the LPA relating to the application
• your appeal form
• any other documents that directly supports your appeal, for example your full statement of case

There is no fee to submit this type of appeal. 

If we do not receive your appeal and documents within the time limit, we may not accept your appeal. Advice on how to create and submit documents to PEDW in the correct format to reduce delays is available here: Submitting documents to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW).

If an appeal is made electronically (i.e. email, Casework Portal), it is taken that you agree to the use of electronic communication for the purposes of the appeal. You can withdraw your consent for electronic communication by notifying us in writing. 

If you submit an appeal or any other document by electronic communication, that document will not be treated as lodged until it is:

• capable of being accessed by the recipient
• legible in all material respects
• sufficiently permanent to be used for subsequent reference

You must also send a copy of the completed appeal form to the LPA so they are aware that you have appealed their decision. If you submit your appeal using the Casework Portal, you will be provided a copy of your appeal form generated by the portal for your records and to send to the LPA. If you have submitted any supporting documents that were not part of your original planning application, you must also send these to the LPA with the appeal form. If you do not do this, we may not accept your appeal. 

Please note that an appellant may not raise any matter which was not before the Local Planning or Relevant authority during its consideration of the application, unless it can be demonstrated the matter: could not have been raised before that time; or that it not being raised before that time was a consequence of exceptional circumstances. You may submit updated or additional evidence on any matters which may be raised in the appeal, however, this might amount to unreasonable behaviour and lead to a claim for an award of costs unless there are good reasons for the evidence not having been submitted to the planning authority at the appropriate time.

In this guidance, we use the same section headers as within the planning appeal form. 

Appellant details 

Only the original applicant can appeal. So, all appeals must be in their name.

If you are not the original applicant (for instance, if you’ve recently bought the site) and want to appeal, you need written permission from the original applicant(s). This makes you responsible for any appeal-related costs. Write your name on the “Name” line, followed by “for”, and then the original applicant’s name. Send us the signed permission with your appeal form.

Agent details

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

If you have an agent, we will send our communications to them. You should keep in touch with your agent as we will send the decision notice to them. We will not send a copy to you, unless this is specifically requested.

Local Planning Authority (LPA) details

The details for your LPA will be included on any notice or any communication they send to you. This will be the Local Authority or National Park Authority that the site falls within.

Appeal site address

If the appeal site does not have a postcode, please provide the postcode of the nearest building. Please also provide information to help us identify the site, e.g. a map or plan showing the site and at least 2 named or numbered local roads which is drawn to an identified scale and shows the direction of north.

Description of the proposed development 

You need to provide details of the proposed development. This will normally be as described on the decision notice.

Reason for the appeal

Select the reason for the appeal. 

Other appeals

If there have been any other appeals decided or are currently being considered on the site, or on nearby land, against a refusal of planning permission you should include the details here. The details you should include are the reference number (if known), site address, a description of proposed development and the status of the appeal. For example ‘I have also submitted an enforcement appeal for a neighbouring plot at the same time as submitting this planning appeal’. 

Full statement of case 

You should provide reasons for the appeal here. If you wish to submit your statement of case as a separate document, please state this on the form. You must submit your full statement of case document at the same time as the appeal form. The information submitted with your appeal is your only opportunity to make your case on your reasons for the appeal. 

You should explain why you disagree with the decision. You can only raise planning issues related to the proposal in your statement of case. You can only introduce new evidence if it relates to the issues considered by the LPA. For example, if one of the reasons for refusal was highway safety, in your statement of case you could refer to a new traffic survey, which would need to be included in your appeal evidence, to address those concerns.

Procedure

Under section 319B(1) of the 1990 Act and Regulation 14 of the Appeal Regulations, PEDW has the power to determine the most suitable procedure for an appeal. 

However, you should select if you think the written representation procedure is appropriate or if you consider that a hearing or inquiry is needed. 

If you consider a hearing or an inquiry to be necessary you should provide full reasoning in the box provided including the likely number of days you feel that the event will last and how many witnesses you intent to call. Additional information can be found in our guidance on the Choice of Procedure.

Costs

If any party has acted unreasonably and this has directly caused another party to incur unnecessary or wasted expense in the appeal or application process, you can submit an application for costs. Before you submit an application for costs, please read Section 12.3 of the Welsh Government's Development Management Manual, and the associated Section 12 Annex: Award of Costs.

Appeal site ownership details

If you do not own the appeal site or if you only own part of the land, you should include the names of the owners or part owners in this part of the form. 

Certificate A: For when the appellant is the sole owner of the site. Certifies that, on the date 21 days before submission of the appeal, nobody other than the appellant was the owner of any part of the land to which the appeal relates. Certificate A is included as part of the planning appeal form.

Certificate B: For when someone other than the appellant owns some or all of the site and you know who all those owners are. Certifies that you have given notice to everyone who, on the date 21 days before submission of the appeal, was the owner of any part of the land to which the appeal relates. You should then provide the required details, including the names of the owners and the date the notice was served. Certificate B is included as part of the planning appeal form.

Certificate C: For when you know the names and addresses of some, but not all of the owners of the site. Certifies that you have served notice on the owners that you do know about – see above in the manner described for certificate B above. You must also publish the notice in a local newspaper. This is so that any other owners, whose identities you have not been able to determine, may become aware of your intention to appeal. You must send a copy of the published notice to us with your appeal.

Certificate D: For when you do not know the names and addresses of any of the owners of the site. Certifies that you have tried to determine the owners’ identities, and that you have published notice in a local newspaper. You must send a copy of the published notice to us with your appeal.

Knowingly falsifying a site ownership certificate could be a matter for the Courts. Please make every effort to complete the correct certificate for your situation.

Agricultural Holdings Certificate

This must be completed for all appeals.

Essential supporting documents 

The appeal form lists the relevant essential supporting documents. Ensure that you have all of the documents listed available to submit with your appeal. You should confirm this on the appeal form by ticking the relevant boxes. 

Please make sure that you have sent us everything. If not, this will cause a delay with your appeal whilst we request the missing documents from you. If all the documents are not submitted within the appeal deadline, your appeal may be turned away. 

Please make sure that all the plans and drawings are drawn to an identified scale and, in the case of plans, show the direction of north. You should send us copies of all plans and drawings sent to the LPA with your application. 

Check, confirm and date

Please check your completed form, then complete the relevant confirmation, and date it. We do not require a ‘wet signature’.

Personal details

Complete this section with the personal details for the appellant and their agent (if applicable). We will not make the personal details supplied on this page publicly available.

Welsh Ministers have the power to determine appeals that would normally be dealt with by an Inspector. These appeals are known as 'recovered appeals'. Those powers may be used in relation to: 

• residential development of more than 150 houses or on more than 6 hectares of land;
• retail developments of over 10,000 square metres;
• major proposals for the winning and working of minerals;
• proposals for major developments which could have wide effects beyond their immediate locality;
• proposals giving rise to substantial controversy beyond the immediate locality;
• proposals which raise novel planning issues;
• proposals which raise significant legal difficulties;
• proposals to which a Central Government Department has objected;
• cases that can only be decided in conjunction with a case over which an Inspector has no jurisdiction; 

The Inspector will make the decision (or the report and recommendation to the Welsh Ministers for a called-in application or recovered appeal) under the circumstances existing at the time the decision is made. 

The Inspector will therefore take account of:

• the material submitted to the LPA
• all the appeal documents
• any relevant legislation and policies, including changes to legislation, any new Government policy and any new or emerging development plan policies since the LPA’s decision was issued
• any other matters that are material to the appeal. 

If you want an Inspector to take account of a particular document (e.g. previous decision / application), it is your responsibility to provide a copy.

The Inspector cannot consider issues which the Courts have found do not constitute a material planning consideration. You should therefore focus your arguments on matters which are material planning considerations. The LPA’s report and reasons for refusing a planning application will usually set out the issues that apply. 

If you disagree with the appeal decision

You can challenge the decision in the High Court if you think PEDW made a legal mistake. 

If you require assistance in respect of a potential challenge, you may wish to seek your own legal advice.