Planning Appeals, Inquiries & Hearings

Should your planning application be refused or granted subject to unacceptable conditions, you may want to appeal against that decision. 

Depending on the type of development and the procedure adopted by the Local Planning Authority, the appeal will either be to the Local Planning Authority’s local review body or to the Scottish Ministers. 

It is essential that any appeal is taken within three months of the decision having been made – this period has recently been reduced from six months - otherwise the appeal will be time barred.

The appeal procedure is increasingly meant to be streamlined, with full blown public local inquiries being the exception rather than the norm.

Morton Fraser has extensive experience of preparing for and conducting appeals, whether the appeal is to be dealt with by way of written submission, an informal hearing or an inquiry session.

We are also instructed in Public Inquiries, for example under the Electricity Act, where developers are seeking to build large windfarms.