The appeal questionnaire and the council's statement

Once the Planning Inspectorate issues a start date, the local planning authority has to produce two documents: the appeal questionnaire, which is due within days, and its written statement, due some weeks later. The appeal questionnaire lpa response is the more useful of the two to an appellant, because it arrives early, it is largely factual, and it shows what the authority is actually working from.

Read both against the reasons for refusal. Gaps between them are where appeals are won.

What the questionnaire contains

The questionnaire is a standard form plus a bundle. The form records procedural matters: whether the authority agrees the appeal is properly made, which procedure it considers appropriate, whether the inspector needs access to land other than the appeal site, whether any other appeals or applications relate to the site, and what notification and publicity were carried out.

The bundle is the more valuable part. It normally includes the decision notice, the officer report, the relevant extracts from the development plan and any supplementary guidance relied on, copies of consultation responses from statutory and internal consultees, copies of third party representations, the site notice and notification lists, and details of any relevant constraints such as a conservation area, listed building, Tree Preservation Order or flood zone.

Three things to check immediately. Whether the policies listed match the policies in the refusal notice. Whether every consultation response is there, including the ones that raised no objection. And whether the officer report recommended approval.

An authority that lists a policy in the questionnaire which does not appear in the reasons for refusal is signalling the argument it intends to run.

The start date and the timetable it sets

The start date is the point from which everything is measured, and it appears in the Inspectorate's letter along with the timetable for that appeal.

In the written representations procedure the questionnaire is required within a few working days of the start date, and the authority's statement at around the six week point, with the appellant then having a window to comment on what the authority has said. Hearings and inquiries run different timetables, with statements of case, statements of common ground and proofs of evidence at their own deadlines.

Do not work from memory on these dates. The timetable letter governs, the periods have been amended over the years, and the Inspectorate applies them strictly. Diarise every date in the letter on the day it arrives.

One practical consequence of the timetable: the appellant's opportunity to comment comes after the authority's statement, which means the appellant has the last word in writing. That is worth preserving by keeping the initial grounds of appeal complete rather than holding material back, since material held back can look tactical.

The authority's written statement

The statement is where the authority sets out its case in support of each reason for refusal, with the policy analysis and the evidence it relies on.

Read it for scope first. The authority should be defending the reasons on the decision notice and nothing else. Where the statement raises a new objection not in the refusal reasons, that is both an opportunity and a costs point, because an authority introducing new grounds at appeal without justification may be behaving unreasonably.

Read it second for substantiation. A reason for refusal asserting harm to the character of the area needs the statement to say what the character is, by reference to evidence, and why the proposal harms it. A statement that restates the reason in longer sentences has not substantiated anything, and inspectors notice.

Read it third for what it concedes. Authorities often accept a good deal in the statement: that the principle of development is acceptable, that highway safety is not an issue, that the technical evidence is adequate. Every concession narrows the appeal, and those concessions should be picked up and quoted in the final comments.

Consultation responses carried into the appeal

Consultees are not normally re-consulted on an appeal. The inspector works from the responses made during the application, which the questionnaire supplies.

That has two consequences. A consultee objection that was resolved during the application, by an amendment or by further information, needs to be dealt with explicitly, because the inspector will otherwise read an unresolved objection. Supply the later correspondence showing the withdrawal, and where a consultee confirmed no objection subject to conditions, say so.

Conversely, an absence of objection from a statutory consultee is evidence in the appellant's favour and should be pointed to directly rather than left for the inspector to infer from a bundle.

Third party representations are also carried forward, and interested people are notified of the appeal and may comment again. Their role is set out in how neighbours take part in a planning appeal.

Where the questionnaire omits a consultation response you know exists, ask for it. An incomplete bundle is worth raising with the case officer at the Inspectorate.

Spotting a weak council case

Several patterns in the questionnaire and statement indicate a case that will not hold up.

The officer recommended approval and members refused against that advice. The reasons for refusal cite policies that the officer report did not discuss. No consultee objected, and the reasons rest solely on the judgement of the committee. The statement relies on a supplementary planning document rather than on an adopted development plan policy. The statement is short relative to the number of reasons, or was clearly written by someone who did not handle the application.

None of these guarantees success, because the inspector decides on the planning merits rather than on how well the authority argued. But each affects how the case should be run, and a combination of them supports a costs application where the authority cannot substantiate its position.

Where the refusal reason was drafted broadly, the statement is the first point at which the authority has to say what it actually means, and that is the document to answer rather than the notice.

Responding to new material

The appellant's final comments are for responding to the authority's statement, not for making the case again.

Keep them tight. Identify the points in the statement that require an answer, answer them, and note the concessions. A document that reargues the whole appeal wastes the opportunity and invites the inspector to skim it.

Where the statement introduces material not seen before, such as an appeal decision not previously mentioned or a policy consideration that emerged later, deal with it directly and say that it is new. If national policy has changed since the appeal was lodged, both parties will normally be invited to comment, which is the situation described in when national policy changes during your appeal.

If a costs application is to be made, it belongs alongside the final comments in a written representations appeal, with the grounds set out separately from the planning case.

Late submissions and how they are treated

The Inspectorate applies its deadlines, and material arriving late is often returned unread. Where it is accepted, the other party is given an opportunity to respond, which delays the decision.

Two situations arise regularly. An authority that misses the questionnaire deadline delays the whole appeal, and persistent failure is a costs matter. An appellant who submits amended plans after the appeal has started will usually find them rejected, because an appeal is against the decision on the scheme as applied for.

Procedural errors also cause appeals to be returned before any of this begins, and the recurring causes are set out in why the Planning Inspectorate returns appeals as invalid.

The underlying discipline is the same one that applies at application stage: put the full case in, properly evidenced, at the first opportunity. A well-structured Planning Statement submitted with the application gives the appeal a foundation, and an appeal built on a thin application is being built twice.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.