Making Appeals
Who may appeal?
Appeals may only be made by or on behalf of the person who made the application. There is no "third party" right of appeal and this means that objectors or other parties who may have an interest in the proposal cannot make an appeal if they are unhappy about the decision.
The time limits within which appeals may be made are set out in legislation but those relating to the bulk of our appeal casework are as follows:
Planning, Listed Building and Advertisement Appeals – six months from the date of notification of the Department of the Environment's decision. The Commission is unable to extend this period. Appeals may also be made after a minimum period of two months (or such extended period as may be agreed in writing between the Appellant and Department) from the date of the receipt of a valid application if no decision has been issued by the Department.
Enforcement Notice Appeals – at any time before the date on which the notice is to take effect (specified in the notice). The Commission has no power to extend the period for making an appeal.
How to appeal
Application forms are available for most categories of appeals and can be accessed by clicking on the appropriate link in the right menu. PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU CAN ONLY PRINT OFF OR DOWNLOAD THE APPEAL FORMS WHEN THE INPUT FIELDS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.
The following appeal forms are available in pdf format only.
If your category of appeal is not among the above, then an appeal is made by writing to the PAC.
All appeals, except those relating to advertisements must be accompanied by a fee which presently stands at £126. (Cheques should be made payable to the Planning Appeals Commission.)
Appeals should be sent to:
Planning Appeals CommissionPark House
87-91 Great Victoria Street
Belfast
BT2 7AG
Tel: 028 9024 4710
Fax: 028 9031 2536
E-mail:info@pacni.gov.uk
Please note that appeals cannot be received live over the Internet. They must be posted or delivered by hand to the Commission's office.
Appeal Procedures
Appeals may be determined either on the basis of a hearing or by written representations. However, if either the Department or the appellant request a hearing, this procedure must be followed and will take the form of either a Formal or Informal Hearing. For guidance on procedures, please click here: Planning Appeals: Notes for Appellants
The Commission, nonetheless, considers that the written representations method is appropriate for a wide range of cases and commends wider use of the procedure. It has time and cost advantages for all of the parties, particularly the appellant.
To find out more about procedures on planning and enforcement notice appeals refer to "Procedures for Planning Appeals" and "Procedures for Enforcement Notice, Listed Building Enforcement Notice and Submission Notice Appeals" on our Publications page.
Advertising and Appeals
All planning, listed building, enforcement notice and listed building enforcement notice appeals are advertised. Parties who make representations on appeals are invited to participate in appeal proceedings and have the same opportunity as the Department and appellant to make their views known to the Commission.
Technical difficulties
If you are unable to complete an appeal form online could you please provide the Commission, at the following address, info@pacni.gov.uk , with the details you are trying to input so we can provide these to our web-hosting team.
Below are pdf links to all our online forms:
Advertising Appeal (49 KB) 
Alternative Development Appeal (43 KB)
Enforcement Notice Appeal (55 KB)
Environmental Appeal (39 KB)
Lawful Development Appeal (49 KB)
Listed Building Appeal (53 KB)
Planning Appeal (63 KB)
Roads Appeal (44 KB)
Submission Notice (48 KB)
Water Appeal (43 KB)
