Appeals cost councils £12m

Local councils have been forced to pay out a total of £12m after losing planning appeals since 2010, new figures show. Cornwall Council paid the highest at £981,332 through six lost appeals – an average cost of £163,555 per loss. The data, taken from a Freedom of Information request by property consultancy Daniel Watney, found that 178 of the 217 councils that responded had to pay out large sums. Charles Mills, partner and head of planning at Daniel Watney, said the figures would have been higher if the appeals process was easier. He said that owing to budget cuts, appeal inspectors are interested only in extreme cases, and they would have to prove that the council acted unreasonably, which does not have a specific test. “It is an onerous task to demonstrate that a local authority has been unreasonable during the process,” he said. An investigation by Estates Gazette last month (29 October, p44) found that developers faced a planning lottery when submitting applications, with large differences in resourcing and productivity among councils. Amounts councils have paid out after losing planning appeals, 2010-2016 Council Highest total paid, 2010-16 (£) Council Highest average paid, 2010-16 (£) Cornwall 981,332 Halton 360,735 Derby City 866,975 Derby City 177,395 Halton 721,470 Cornwall 163,555 Stratford-upon-Avon 557,819 Rugby Borough 110,000 South Gloucestershire 505,544 London Borough of Wandsworth 74,807 Basingstoke and Deane 468,695 Ryedale District 74,750 Horsham District 442,969 Horsham District 63,281 Cambridge City 311,175 South Gloucestershire 56,172 Solihull 306,563 Stratford-on-Avon 50,711 Cheshire 260,198 Oxfordshire 48,609 • To send feedback, e-mail karl.tomusk@estatesgazette.com or tweet @ktomusk or @estatesgazette