Decision and Appeal

Decision

The Development Control Officer assesses the application, along with any comment made by consultees, which may include other Government Departments, Statutory Bodies, interest groups, Local Authorities and private representations from members of the public. Private representations can be made in support or objection to a planning application. Relevant policies and practices of the Department are also addressed within the consideration. The Officer's findings, assessment and recommendation are written down in a formal report which is then presented to the Planning Committee or the Director of Planning and Building Control if the determination can be made under the authority delegated to him by the Department. See the download table in the Publications page for information on the levels of delegated authority assigned to the Director.

Any application considered by the Planning Committee is done so in a public forum, see Meetings of the Planning Committee. A Notice of the decision is issued to the applicant or their agent as soon as is practical after the Planning Committee have met, or a determination has been made under the delegated authority of the Director. The Notice will be accompanied by the conditions of approval, or the reasons for refusal. A copy of the Notice is also sent to all parties who submitted a representation.

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Appeal

Should any person in receipt of a Notice wish to contest the decision, or disagree with the conditions/reasons attached, an appeal may be requested. This request must be submitted within 21 days of the Notice being issued, and be in written form to the Minister of the Department at the address shown at the bottom of this page. An application form, should you require it, along with Guidance Notes on the appeals process, are available to download from the bottom of this page.

Only those parties whom have been assigned interested party status may seek to appeal against a decision made. The policy set in assigning party status is set down in a Government Circular which is available to download from the table at the bottom of this page.

The Governor in Council will appoint an independent person to conduct the appeal. That person has certain specific functions to perform on behalf of the Minister which, in summary, require them to -

consider the application, and any written objections or representations which should properly be considered;
invite the Department to make written representations to them;
invite the applicant and any other relevant person to make further written objections or representations to them;
give the Department, the applicant and any other such person an opportunity to appear before them; and
make a report in writing to the Minister, including his/her recommendations.

The Minister will then consider the report of the independent person and make a final decision. Notification of the decision is conveyed to the applicant, all interested parties and the press. In view of the Minister's role in the appeal process, no approach should be made for his earlier comment or involvement in the planning process.

Former Process

Prior to the changes in the planning legislation, which came into effect on 1st November 2005, the determination of planning applications was subject to a three tier process, the initial decision followed by opportunity for review and, latterly, to appeal. Under that system, applicants or interested parties could request the Planning Committee to review an initial decision. Further, the review decision could be appealed against. However, under the current, more streamlined process, the review stage no longer exists. See our Revised Process page for more information on the changes that came into effect on 1st November 2005.

Minister of Department

Address:	Hon. J P Shimmin, MHK, Minister for Department of Local Government and the Environment, Murray House, Mount Havelock, Douglas, Isle of Man.
Post Code:	IM1 2SF

Downloadable Documents