Appeals Against Planning Decisions

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Changes in legislation have removed the right of appeal to Scottish Ministers where any decision of the Council as planning authority has been taken on its behalf by the Appointed Officer and the application is for a local development as defined in the Hierarchy of Applications Regulations. However, in all other cases, rights of appeal to Ministers remain unaffected. An appeal must be submitted within 3 months of the date of the decision notice, or in the case of an appeal against non-determination, 3 months from the expiry of the prescribed 2 or 4 month period for determining the application.

A proposal cannot be varied after an appeal is made. If the applicant wishes to amend the proposal, a new planning application would have to be submitted to the Council. Similarly, the appellant (applicant) must provide all the information relevant to the proposal at the outset, as Ministers will now restrict the scope for new material or evidence as the appeal proceeds.

A final change in procedure is the removal of the automatic right of the appellant to appear before and be heard by a Reporter appointed by Scottish Ministers. The appellant can indicate a preferred method for conducting the appeal, but it is for the reporter to decide whether the initial exchange of papers provides sufficient information to issue a decision, or whether further written submissions, hearing or inquiry sessions are required to examine further evidence.

The decision notice, which you will already have received from Council tells you what to do. As a first step it is best to contact the Development Quality Team of the Council and the staff will be able to advise you further on how to appeal. Please use the contact details at the foot of this page.

For more detailed information on the appeal procedures beyond what is provided via this website refer to Circular 1/2000 - Code of Practice for Planning Appeals and other Planning Cases Determined by Written Submissions, or contact the Scottish Executive Development Department Planning Division by telephoning 0131 244 7066.

To assist you in understanding the process we have compiled a Planning Appeals Guide which covers the most frequently asked questions.