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Comparison of success rates of planning appeals in the South West

There is significant variability across the local planning authorities in the South-West in their performance in defending planning appeals.  Appealfinder's comparison tables for the past 3 years of PINS statistics are below, revealing some uncomfortable truths about the likelihood of success for s78 planning appeals for appellants and local planning authorities alike.

LPAs with the highest and lowest planning appeal success rates

The LPAs in the SW with the best records for successfully defending their s78 appeals in 2020/21 were Swindon, Poole, and West Somerset, each with less than 10% of their appeals overturned/ allowed by the Planning Inspectorate.

At the bottom of the league table for the year ending 31st March 2021 was Weymouth & Portland with 100% of appeals allowed, although this is a little unfair as it had only 1 appeal.  The worst performing LPAs were Mid Devon with 47%, Forest of Dean with 45%, and Torridge with 45% appeals allowed.  The South West had a significant number of LPAs experiencing worse appeal rates over 2019/20 than the national average of 25%.

Change in planning appeal success rates over time

Some LPAs have improving performance, others worsening performance over time. This can reflect one or more of the following factors:
    • progress of a Local Plan
    • change in five year housing land supply position
    • LPAs granting permission more readily after experiencing a previous swathe of appeals (behaviour adjustment)
    • change in officers and/or councillors
    • statistical variance, particularly there are only a small number of appeals

Map courtesy of Wikipedia, By XrysD - Own work, CC BY 3.0, Link

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