Appealing a planning or building decision or notice

​​​​​​When you can appeal

You can request an appeal if:

• you have been refused planning or building permission
• you disagree with a condition attached to a planning or building permission
• you’ve made a written representation to an application that has been approved and you have an interest in land or are resident on land within 50 metres of the application site
• you've had a notice requiring action served on you, such as an enforcement notice
• you own or occupy a building or land where a building, place or tree has been listed
• you own or occupy a building or land where the de-listing of a building, place or tree has been refused
• you own a building or land where a decision has been made to revoke or modify a planning permission

Notice of appeal must be received by the Greffier no later than the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of the decision. For example, if a decision is dated 1 January 2023 then an appeal must be received by the end of 28 January 2023.

You can find the date of the decision on:

• the decision notice
  
• any notice requiring action

The time limit is strictly applied and only in the most exceptional cases can an extension of time be granted.

How to submit an appeal

Complete the relevant form and submit to the Judicial Greffe with the applicable fee. The cost of an appeal is set out on the relevant appeal forms and summarised in the Judicial Greffe’s guide.

Judicial Greffe's guide to​ s​ubmitting an appeal

You need to explain why you disagree with the decision or with what the notice is asking you to do. You only need to provide a brief outline. If your appeal is accepted you'll have 28 days to submit full details about your reasons for appealing. If your appeal isn't accepted the Judicial Greffe will inform you.

Appeal of a planning decision form

Appeal of serving of a notice form

Appeal against immediate action form

The appeal process

Once the appeal is accepted an independent inspector will be assigned. Some appeals are considered based on written statements, while others will involve a hearing chaired by the inspector. If you'd like a hearing, you can ask the inspector to consider it.

Once accepted, you have 28 days to submit your full arguments. After this deadline, all parties will receive each other's cases and you'll have 14 days to comment on the other side's arguments. You won't be able to raise any new issues during this period.

The inspector will then consider your appeal and make a recommendation to the Minister for the Environment. The Minister doesn't have to follow that advice, but must explain why it wasn't followed. Once the Minister makes a decision on your appeal, the Judicial Greffe will let everyone involved know the outcome.

How long your appeal will take

We aim to make a decision on your appeal around 16 weeks from the date it was accepted. Make sure you meet all submission deadlines, as we can't accept any information received after any deadlines.

Fair consideration of your appeal

The Judicial Greffe administers appeals against planning and building decisions so that your case is considered independently of the department. The Tribunal Ser​vice publishes a list of pending appeals. 

The system makes sure that everyone involved in an appeal has the chance to make their case. The department will be treated the same as any other party involved, and it must follow the same rules.

The Minister won't be involved in any initial decision. The first time the Minister will be asked to consider any details of the case is when the inspector submits the report.