The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1992

78.—(1) Where a local planning authority refuse an application for express consent or grant it subject to conditions, the applicant may by notice appeal to the Secretary of State.

(2) A person who has made an application for express consent may also appeal to the Secretary of State if within the period of 8 weeks from the date when the application was received by the local planning authority, that authority have neither given him notice of their decision on it nor given him notice that they have exercised their power under section 70A to decline to determine the application.

(3) Any appeal under subsection (1) or (2) shall be made by notice served within 8 weeks from the date of receipt of the local planning authority’s decision, or, as the case may be, within 8 weeks from the expiry of the period mentioned in subsection (2), or within such longer period as the Secretary of State may in either case at any time allow.

(3A) The notice mentioned in subsection (3) shall be accompanied by a copy of each of the following documents—

(a) the application made to the local planning authority;

(b) all relevant plans and particulars submitted to them;

(c) any notice of decision; and

(d) any other relevant correspondence with the authority.

(4) Where an appeal is made to the Secretary of State as mentioned in subsection (3), he may require the appellant or the local planning authority to submit to him, within such period as he may specify, a statement in writing in respect of such matters relating to the application as he may specify, and if, after considering the grounds of appeal and any such statement, the Secretary of State is satisfied that he has sufficient information to enable him to determine the appeal he may, with the agreement in writing of both the appellant and the local planning authority, determine the appeal without complying with section 79(2).

(5) For the purposes of the application of sections 79(1) and 288(10)(b) in relation to an appeal under subsection (2), it shall be assumed that the authority decided to refuse the application in question.