Planning appeals enter digital disappointment
Planning appeals are moving online across England, allowing homeowners to receive a technologically advanced refusal for the conservatory they have already mentally furnished. The dream now has a login and a password expiry date.
The service follows a pilot in five London boroughs. It provides individual logins, document uploads and a dashboard where councils can watch a loft conversion become a six month personality disorder.
The case exists but refuses to be found
The portal cannot yet filter cases by stage. Users must search by reference or postcode, preserving the traditional planning experience of knowing something exists without being able to find it.
“Digital planning appeals put every objection at your fingertips,” said Penelope Velux Snibson of Neighbourhood Silhouettes. “A dormer window can now offend local character in several compatible file formats.”
The Inspectorate prefers data to documents. Councils must still upload relevant policies for each appeal, even when those policies already live online. Britain has digitised the wheel but kept a ceremonial horse nearby.
The shed keeps its dignity by avoiding video
Video evidence is not accepted. This seems wise because footage might reveal that the proposed shed is simply a shed, rather than a strategic assault on the visual amenity of number 38.
All authorities were due to join by December. Britain could then stop posting paperwork and begin refreshing a dashboard marked awaiting validation until the ivy covered the disputed wall.
The service promises a modern route through the process. At last, an appeal can spend months in limbo without requiring anybody to visit the post office.
Read the real story: The Planning Inspectorate announcement about its online appeals rollout.
