UK: Planning Appeals - What You Need To Know Since The Rosewell Review

The recommendations of the Rosewell Review were designed to reduce the time taken for a planning appeal to be heard at inquiry. The changes are radical, reducing the appeal process from an average of 60 weeks to 24 weeks.

Key Review Areas

Important points to note

• The appellant must be organised and have everything ready before submitting the appeal.

• New guidance documents have been released on every aspect of the process (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/casework-dealt-with-by-inquiries).

• PINS now publishes all documents on its portal.

• Timescales must be strictly adhered to:

The current timings are as follows:

Submission to start letter

• The period from submission to start date has been cut from an average of 7 weeks to 5-10 days.
• All documents must be submitted with the appeal. There is no ability to amend a scheme during the appeal process.

Start letter to Inquiry

• Inquiry now has to begin within 13-16 weeks from the start date
• The Statement of Common Ground must now set out what is both agreed and not agreed.
• Issues are discussed at the Case Conference, 7 weeks in. This helps resolve issues early in the process.

Inquiry to decision

• The role of the inspectors is now to give the Inquiry a strong directional approach in the conduct of the Inquiry
• Cross examination at Inquiry has been greatly reduced with the Inspector asking questions directly to the experts.

Impact

• Since the Rosewell Review has been implemented, 90% of appeals have been decided within 24 weeks of the start with the remaining 10% within the 26 week limit.
• The appeal process is continually under review but the timing aspect is promising.
• PINS have further developments to improve the clarity and ease of the process through a new portal and online system.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.