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PLANNING APPEALS
HOME PAGE | CONTENTS | APPEALS
MAIN | CONDUCTING APPEALS
HEARINGS APPEALS
Hearing
Appeals are conducted in accordance with the Town & Country Planning
(Hearings Procedure)(
Where
either the Appellant or the Council wish to exercise their right to be heard, the
Inspectorate will consider whether the case is suitable for a Hearing, having
regard to the circumstances of the Appeal and the views of the principal
parties. Hearings will be used in all appropriate cases in preference to public
inquiries.
If
it is considered suitable, then the aim will be to arrange the Hearing within
12 weeks of that decision. The Inspectorate aim to arrange Hearings as quickly
as possible and there will be negotiation for dates, with each party being
permitted one refusal of a date before the final date, time and place of the
Hearing is fixed.
At
least 28 days notice of the arrangements for the Hearing will be given, which
will be notified by the Local Planning Authority to all those persons with an
interest in the land, consultees and other relevant third parties.
At
least 3 weeks before the Hearing, the Appellant and the Council must have
provided written statements containing full particulars of the case they wish
to make at the Hearing, including a list of any documents to which they wish to
refer.
Statements
will be passed to the Inspector so that he can prepare for the Hearing. It will
also be necessary for each party to supply copies of their statements to each
other.
It
is vital that the timetable is adhered to. If the Inspector cannot be provided with the necessary
information in sufficient time before the Hearing, it will be necessary to
delay or defer the Hearing or alternatively, to hold a Local Inquiry where
procedures are governed by statutory rules.
A
party to the appeal may become liable for costs if another party is put to
unnecessary expense through the late submission of statements. See costs.
The
aim of the informal Hearing is, as the title suggests, to be in a format which
reduces the formalities inherent in a traditional Local Inquiry. The Local
Planning Authority will use their best endeavours to provide a setting that is
conducive to the round-table format required by the Inspectorate.
However,
if at any time before or during the Hearing, the Appellant or the Local
Planning Authority comes to the view that the informal procedure is
inappropriate and that they no longer wish to proceed in that way, they should
explain their reasons to the Inspectorate or, during the Hearing, the
Inspector, who will (having sought the views of the other party), decide
whether an Inquiry should be held instead.
The
Inspector may come to his own conclusion in this regard and close the
proceedings where he considers that the Hearing has become inappropriate.
The
Inspector will lead the discussion. He will summarise his understanding of the case from the relevant
papers and highlight what he considers to be the main issues, indicating those
matters for which further explanation or clarification is required. It is
likely that he will have made an informal site visit prior to the Hearing
commencing.
Appellants
may present their case through an agent, but such representation is not
essential.
The
format of the discussion will be flexible and given that written material will
already have been circulated before the Hearing commences, this will be taken
as read. The guidelines indicate that every effort should be made to avoid
introducing new material at the Hearing, as this may necessitate a delay or
give rise to a need for a Public Inquiry.
All
those who attend the Hearing will be given an opportunity to participate and
the Appellant will be allowed to make any final comments before the discussion
is closed.
The
Inspector will normally ask that any applications for an award of costs should
be made at the end of proceedings in the Hearing room and certainly before the
adjournment to the site visit. See costs for further information.
SITE
VISITS
Following
the hearing, the Inspectorate will arrange a site visit. This inspection is
only required in order for either the Local Authority or the Appellant to be able
to point out important site features and verify details that have been referred
to in the submissions.
NO
DISCUSSION OF THE MERITS OF AN APPEAL IS ALLOWED AT A SITE VISIT.
In
certain circumstances it may be unnecessary for the Planning Inspector to be
accompanied by either party, if the site can be seen from a public highway or
other publicly accessible land. Unaccompanied site visits will not require
formal arrangements to be made with the Council or the Appellant.
In
the interests of maintaining impartiality, the Inspector will not permit a site
visit to take place accompanied by only one party to the Appeal. If for any
reason you are unable to attend a pre-arranged site visit you should notify the
Inspectorate immediately.
FINALLY
Once
the site visit is concluded the Inspector will prepare his decision and a
formal letter will be sent to the appellant and the Council subsequently.
The
Inspectorate is always endeavouring to speed up the process and a decision may
be forthcoming very soon after the site visit. This does not mean that the
Inspector has made a snap decision. Remember he will have had your appeal
documents for some time and is charged with ensuring he has all necessary
information before deciding on the case.
The
site visit may be accompanied by a representative of either party or
unaccompanied if the site can be properly inspected from a public vantage
point. In no circumstances will the Inspector conduct a site visit accompanied
by only one party.