Making your non-validation appeal: guidance for appellants

Before you make your appeal, you should enter into discussions with the local planning authority (LPA). 

You should make your appeal only if you cannot reach an agreement with the LPA.

What is a notice of non-validation 

For applications made on or after 16 March 2016 there is a provision in The Town and Country Planning (Validation Appeals Procedure) (Wales) Regulations 2016 that allows for an appeal against a notice issued by the LPA that an application is invalid. It applies to both applications for planning permission and for any consent, agreement, or approval required by any condition or limitation subject to which planning permission has been granted. 

If the LPA considers that an application for planning permission (or anything accompanying it) does not comply with a validation requirement (see Section 62 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990) they must give a notice to the applicant informing them that the application is invalid. 

This notice must identify the particular requirements in question (in relation to Section 62 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990) and explain why the application does not comply with the validation requirements. 

In the case of an application for a consent, agreement, or approval (required by any condition or limitation subject to which planning permission has been granted) the LPA must give notice that an application is not valid if they consider that the application does not comply with the terms of the planning permission, because the applicant has failed to include information in the application or to provide documents or other materials with it. The notice in this case must identify what information, documents or materials are required to be submitted. 

The Development Management Manual provides advice on validation requirements for applications and what the Local Planning Authority’s notice of invalidity should contain. 

Your appeal

Following the receipt of a notice that an application is invalid you (the applicant) have a period of two weeks from the date of the notice to submit an appeal against the non-validation of the application to us.

The appeal must be made by completing the non-validation appeal form and submitted with the following documents: 

• a copy of the notice served by the LPA
• a copy of the application made to the LPA 
• a copy of the forms, documents, plans, drawings, statements, declarations, certificates, particulars or evidence which were submitted to the LPA in connection with the application 
• a copy of the notice of the decision to grant planning permission (note this is only relevant where the appeal relates to an application for a consent, agreement, or approval required by any condition or limitation subject to which planning permission has been granted)

There is no fee payable for a non-validation appeal. 

You must also send to the LPA, as soon as reasonably practicable, a copy of the completed appeal form (and documents) served on us so that the authority is aware that an appeal has been made, and what information has been lodged in challenge to the notice of non-validation. This is so that the LPA will take no further action on the application until the outcome of the appeal is known. 

When we receive your appeal we will write to both you and the LPA to let you know the appeal reference number. We have a target of 21 days to consider and determine your appeal once it had been validated. 

If the appeal is upheld then the information that is being sought by the LPA does not need to be submitted in order for the application to be found valid. If the appeal is dismissed, you must decide whether to submit the information to the LPA or withdraw the application. You are encouraged to contact the local planning authority to inform them of your intention, and the likely timescale. 

Where an appeal is dismissed, and the information required has not been submitted within a reasonable timescale, or you have simply not informed the LPA of your intentions, then the authority should return the application and associated fee to you.

Submitting your appeal

You can e-mail your appeal form to us at PEDW.Casework@gov.wales. Submitting your form and supporting documents electronically will help make the process of your appeal as efficient as possible. Alternatively, you can post your appeal form or deliver it by hand. If you deliver your appeal by hand you should ask us for a receipt. 

Deadlines

You must send your appeal and essential supporting documents to us and at the same time to the LPA, so that they are received within 2 weeks from the date shown on the LPA’s notice of non-validation. 

You can send them to the LPA via email or post. Contact details for the LPA should accompany the notice of non-validation. 

If we do not receive your appeal and documents within the time limit, we may not accept your appeal. 

In this guidance, we use the same section headers as within the non-validation appeal form. 

Appellant details 

Only the person who made the application can make an appeal. All appeals must therefore bear the name of the original applicant. 

If you did not make the original application (eg you may have recently purchased the site) and you wish to appeal you must obtain the written permission of the original applicant(s) to allow you to do this. You would become responsible for any costs arising from the appeal. Put your name in the “Name” line followed by “for” and then the name of the original applicant. You must send the signed written permission to us with your appeal form. 

Agent details 

You do not have to employ an agent to handle your appeal. If you decide to employ an agent they will probably complete the appeal form for you. 

If you have an agent we will send all of our communications to them. We will not send a copy to you. You should ensure that you keep in touch with your agent as the decision notice will be sent to them. 

Local planning authority details 

This information will usually be in the notice of non-validation you received from the LPA. 

Appeal site address 

If the appeal site does not have a postcode, please provide the postcode of the nearest building. Also please provide information to help us identify the site, e.g. a map or plan showing the site and at least 2 named or numbered local roads.

Description of development 

You need to provide details of the proposed development. This will normally be precisely as you described it on the planning application form. 

Type of application 

The LPA’s non-validation notice should make it clear the particular requirements in question and explain why the application does not comply with the validation requirements.

Grounds of appeal

You should set out all your grounds of appeal clearly and concisely and focus upon the reasons your application meets the requirements and should not be the subject of a non-validation notice. You should avoid repetition and information that does not relate to the issues involved. It is not enough to say that you do not agree with the non-validation notice - this will not help the appointed person decide your appeal. The grounds of appeal should be clear and concise. Any supporting documentation other than that listed in the Essential Supporting documents section should be kept to a minimum. It should be essential and directly relevant to the appeal. Such documentation should be clearly cross-referenced in the grounds of appeal.

If you consider it essential to submit e-mail trails to support your grounds of appeal, you should carefully edit the e-mails to remove repetition so that the key points can be clearly picked up. 

When selecting which of the set ground(s) of appeal you wish to pursue, you should consider which of them relates to the specific circumstances of your case. There are separate sets of grounds relating to applications for planning permission and applications for consent or approval required by conditions or limitations attached to an existing planning permission (often referred to as ‘discharge of condition’ applications). 

The following sections explain each of the grounds and you should read it thoroughly before completing the appeal form. 

Grounds relating to applications for planning permission 

2a) The application complies with the requirement identified in the notice. 

This ground of appeal should be pleaded where you consider that the requirement as set out in the notice has already been complied with. For example, the notice requires submission of a location plan and that plan has already been provided. 

This ground does not apply where the requirement and the information or document that has been submitted are different in some way. For example, the notice requires submission of a householder application form and you have submitted the form for a standard planning application. This does not necessarily mean that the application is invalid, but because the forms are different, submission of one cannot logically comply with a requirement to submit the other. In that instance other grounds might be more appropriate – see below. 

2b) The application is not one to which the requirement applies. 

This ground of appeal should be pleaded where you consider that the requirement set out in the notice does not apply to the type of application you are making. For example, the notice requires submission of a Design and Access Statement, which can be a requirement for some applications (for example those for certain types of major development), but you are making a different type of application (for example a householder application) and the requirement therefore does not apply. 

2c) The requirement is not a validation requirement in relation to the application. 

This ground of appeal should be pleaded where you consider that the requirement set out in the notice could be relevant to your case, but is not required to make the application valid. For example, it may be that the LPA is requiring further information regarding the provision of access into a site, which might be required to help them reach a decision, but is not needed in order for your application to be considered valid and could be requested later on. 

2d) The information or evidence that the LPA has required is not reasonable, having regard to the nature and scale of the proposed development and/or it is not reasonable for the LPA to think that the matter to which the requirement relates will be a material consideration in the determination of the application. 

This ground of appeal should be pleaded where you consider that the requirement set out in the notice could potentially be a validation requirement in relation to the application you are making, but the LPA is being unreasonable in asking for it due to the scale of your proposal or the fact that it relates to an issue that is not relevant in your case. For example, the LPA can ask for ‘…any other plans, drawings or information necessary to describe the proposed development’ in order to validate your application, but it might be unreasonable to ask for a set of elevations if the proposal can be understood without them or for a set of drainage plans if there is no reason to think that drainage would be an issue in your case. 

Grounds relating to applications for consent, agreement or approval required by any condition or limitation attached to an existing planning permission 

3a) The application included the information, or was accompanied by the documents or other materials identified in the notice. 

This ground of appeal should be pleaded where you consider that the requirement set out in the notice has already been complied with. For example, a condition attached to your planning permission requires submission of a landscaping scheme and one has already been provided. 

3b) The provision of the information, documents or materials being sought is not required in order to comply with the terms of the planning permission. 

This ground of appeal should be pleaded where you consider that the requirement set out in the notice is not a requirement of your planning permission. For example, the LPA is asking for the submission of sample roofing materials for approval, but there is no condition attached to your permission that requires the submission of materials for approval or; there is a condition that requires materials to be submitted, but it does not include those to be used for roofing. 

3c) The prescribed period begins to run irrespective of whether the information, documents or materials being sought are provided. 

This ground of appeal should be pleaded where you consider that the requirement set out in the notice is not a validation requirement for applications made under planning condition. For example, the LPA is asking for submission of a planning application form, which is not required to make a valid application for consent, agreement or approval required by a condition or limitation attached to a grant of planning permission. 

Essential supporting documents

We have listed the documents currently required on the non-validation appeal form. If we do not receive all your essential appeal documents by the end of the 2 week appeal period we may not be able to proceed with it and you will lose your right to appeal. Please make sure that you have sent us everything; if not your appeal will be delayed whilst we request the missing documents from you or possibly turned away if they are not all submitted by the 2 week deadline. 

Please ensure that you have listed all the plans/drawings that you are sending to us and that they include reference to the scale, orientation, and paper size. You should send us copies of all plans sent to the LPA with your application. 

You should not seek to submit new material when you make your appeal that was not considered by the LPA as part of validation process. 

Personal details 

Appellant Personal Details/Agent Personal Details/Appeal Site Ownership Details/Agricultural Holdings Certificate 

Personal details supplied on this page will not be made publicly available. 

Email 

If you tick the box to say that you prefer to be contacted by email, where possible we will send you our letters by email and we will not send paper copies. 

Check, sign and date 

This section provides a useful summary of the things you need to have done. Please check your completed form carefully, then sign and date it. 

Now send 

Please note that we must receive your appeal form and all supporting documents within the 2 week time limit. You must send a copy of the completed appeal form to the LPA. If you do not do this we may not accept your appeal. You do not need to send them all the documents again. If you are submitting any supporting documents that were not part of your planning application you must send these to the LPA with the appeal form. 

Electronic communications 

Please Note that in accordance with The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order 2012 where an appeal is made using electronic communication (e-mail; planning portal), it is taken that agreement has been given for the use of electronic communication for the purposes of the appeal, until such time that written notice is given of the withdrawal of the consent to the use of electronic communication. 

If you submit an appeal or any other document by electronic communication, that document will not be treated as lodged until it is:

• capable of being accessed by the recipient
• legible in all material respects
• sufficiently permanent to be used for subsequent reference

Further information 

Further information about our privacy policy is available on request. 

If you have any queries about our policy, or wish to make a request for your personal data then please contact us through the address below: 

Contacting us 

Planning and Environment Decisions Wales
Crown Buildings
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

E-mail: PEDW.Casework@gov.wales 
Telephone: 0300 123 1590