Dorset Council has received notice from Powerfuel that they intend to appeal the council’s decision to refuse planning permission for an Energy Recovery Facility at Portland Port.
On Friday 24 March 2023, Dorset Council’s Strategic and Technical Planning Committee refused to grant permission for the proposed facility, with Powerfuel stating shortly after that they would lodge an appeal in the future.
Appeals against refusals of planning permission are submitted to the Secretary of State, and nearly all are decided by the Planning Inspectorate.
The Planning Inspectorate is a central-government executive agency that deals with planning appeals, national infrastructure planning applications, examinations of local plans and other planning-related and specialist casework in England.
We are anticipating that the appeal will be submitted in mid-August. At this point the Planning Inspectorate will notify Dorset Council that the appeal has started (the ‘start date’) and confirm how the appeal will be handled, together with details of an inquiry date and the name of their appointed independent inspector.
Within one week of the start date our team will notify all interested parties – including anyone who submitted representations to the original application – that an appeal has been lodged with the Planning Inspectorate, including details of how to get involved.
There is no requirement for anyone to resubmit any representations that were made to the Council at the application stage. Once the Planning Inspectorate has confirmed the arrangements, Dorset Council will send all representations that were made on the planning application to the inspector.
It is important to note that, once an appeal is lodged, the case is handled by the Planning Inspectorate, not Dorset Council, and it will be for the appointed inspector to make/recommend the decision on the appeal. To assist the inspector, Dorset Council will be expected to set out its case – with evidence – for refusing the original planning application.
In a small number of instances, appeals are decided by the Secretary of State. Should this occur, it is likely that an inspector will run the inquiry and will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for his consideration. This should not affect the inquiry procedure.
Anyone who wishes to make representations at the appeal stage will need to do so directly to the Planning Inspectorate, not to Dorset Council, but only once the start date for the appeal has been confirmed.
Further details will be provided once the Planning Inspectorate confirms the arrangements.
