Planning decisions and appeals

Planning decisions

A decision notice will tell you if your planning application has been granted or refused.

Application granted

If your application is granted, you must check the conditions on it. These explain:

• how long you have to start the works (usually 3 years)
• what you must comply with

Some conditions mean you must provide further details to us before you start the works. This is known as 'discharging the condition'. An example of this could be providing brick or tiling details. 

It may take 8 weeks or more for this process to be completed. Please submit the information as soon as you can. 

Application refused

If your application is refused, the decision notice will explain why. You can speak to a Planning Officer if you're not sure what the notice means. 

Appealing against a planning decision

In some circumstances, the applicant can appeal against our decision to:

• refuse planning permission; or
• grant planning permission subject to certain conditions; or
• issue a decision within the statutory period

You can only appeal if you are the applicant. Third parties have no right of appeal. 

The back of the decision notice explains how long you have to make an appeal. The timescale depends on what the application was for and can be up to six months after the decision date. 

You don't have to pay to make a planning appeal. However, you may occur some expenses (e.g if you use an agent). The time and money depends on how complicated the appeal is. 

Planning appeals are dealt with by the Planning Inspectorate.