Planning performance statistics: annual and quarterly reports, 2012-2016

10. Appeals and Local Reviews

If an applicant does not agree with the decision of a planning authority then they can ask for a review or appeal of the decision. They can also ask for a review or appeal if the authority doesn't make a decision within the time period set by law.

If the application was decided by a planning officer on behalf of the authority, then the decision is reviewed by the Local Review Body, which is a group of councillors. If the application was decided by councillors, then the appeal is made to Scottish Ministers.

Local Review Bodies dealt with 545 cases in 2015/16, of which 60.2% had the original decision upheld. In the previous year 64.3% (554 cases) had the original decision upheld. ( Annual, 2015/16: Table 30)

In addition, 47.1% (344 cases) of delegated appeals to Scottish Ministers in 2015/16 had the original decision upheld. This compares with 47.2% (324 cases) for 2014/15. ( Annual, 2015/16: Table 31)