Planning Appeal Search Tips

Not sure what text to search for? Try "appeal" and narrow down using filters like Inspector/ Date/ Local Authority/ etc. The default date range is 5 years, which you can easily change to your own chosen dates.

AI bots can summarise, but planning decisions are made by humans. YOUR human thinking ability is more apt than an AI to find what you are looking for. Think about what you really need to bolster your own argument. List some key words and phrases. Start searching for those. Iterate and change as you go. Circle like a bird of prey around your search terms. This thinking process is an essential part of formulating your arguments and is how you will get most value out of other appeals. 

Use double inverted commas to find phrases, for example, "policy S1" or  "80 dwellings" or "sustainable transport". 

Longer phrases can help narrow the search, for example "conflicts with the development plan when read as a whole" will find appeals with that exact phrase.

Sometimes it can be helpful to search for negatives, for example "no cycle provision".

Always consider variations, for example "brownfield land" as well as "previously developed land".

 For worked examples of searching with the map, see here. Or if you prefer a video to guide you through the basics, using searching the map for a vaguely remembered appeal as an example, see our introductory video here .

When you lose sight of WHY you are searching, remind yourself of the reasons why other peoples' appeals can help you be more successful here.

Advanced searching with * wildcard

A * acts as a wild card. It's vital to include inverted commas around your search terms. For example, "presumption against * development" will find:

 presumption against sustainable development
 presumption against inappropriate development
 presumption against the development, etc

You can use as many * wildcards as you like. For example, the search "specialist * * housing" finds all the following:

 specialist older persons housing
 specialist and general housing
 specialist forms of housing, etc.

When using more than one * it is important to separate each * with a space. The * represents one word per asterisk and is "exact".

Flexible searching using SENTENCE or PARAGRAPH

A more flexible search uses SENTENCE or PARAGRAPH (in capital letters) between the search terms. Unlike the * wildcard above, these special commands must NOT be within inverted commas. 

For example, noise SENTENCE nuisance (NO inverted commas) finds appeals refering to:

... noise is at such a level as to constitute a statutory nuisance ...
... cause a nuisance to the amenity of neighbours by reason of noise ...

Don't include inverted commas, like "noise SENTENCE nuisance" because this will return 0 results. If your search includes a phrase, for example "sustainable development" then you will need to use inverted commas only around the phrase. For example: "no conflict" PARAGRAPH "policy CS5" finds appeals refering to:

...Accordingly I find no conflict with Policy CS5 of the CS or with....
....there being no conflict with the Framework. There is limited conflict with policy CS5....

It can be helpful to find appeals where the Inspector has found 'no conflict' with key policies. Try this for example: "no conflict" SENTENCE "policy CS5" produces results like the ones below:

... the Framework and there being no conflict with Policy CS5 of the Core Strategy...
... therefore do not and would not conflict with policies CS5, CS6 and CS16 of ...

Specific searching using commands NEAR/x or NOTNEAR/x

To find words NEAR another word, specify the number of words you wish to include. For example, NEAR/3 is a tight search within 3 words, whereas NEAR/10 will search within 10 words.

For example, "housing supply" NEAR/5 weight finds this type of result:

… housing, the contribution to housing supply carries positive weight in favour of the …
… attach very little weight to the proposal benefiting housing supply in HDC …
… would further frustrate housing supply. I therefore attach moderate weight to the proposal …

This is useful for popular terms like sustainable NEAR/4 development. For example, this will find:

… site and construction of a sustainable residential development comprising a total of …
… proposal would comprise a sustainable form of development, having particular regard to …
… . In conclusion, the development is in a sustainable location and seeks to …

Say you are searching for appeals where substantial weight may have been given to design issues. Using this command in the search bar: "substantial weight" NEAR/5 design will find:

... not amount to good design. These matters carry substantial weight against the proposal ...
... achieving high-quality design that respects its context, substantial weight should be given ...
... that the high standard of design merits substantial weight. The evidence before ....

Troubleshooting

No results? Check your date range and other filters as these are the most common reasons for a negative result. We have 99.9% of all appeals from early 2010. If this doesn't work, see FAQs section 2 #8.

With all the special commands, it is important to be rigorous in your use of inverted commas. Never put inverted commas around the commands SENTENCE, PARAGRAPH or NEAR, only around your search words.

Where an appeal planning officer has assisted an Inspector, these are indexed under the Inspector's name. To find appeals by a named appeal planning officer, put their name into the Keyword search rather than into the Inspector search.

See the FAQs section 2 for Appeal Searching FAQs such as finding Welsh appeals, former LPAs, etc. See FAQs section 3 for Website Navigation FAQs for links to useful government data.