Some of you have asked me whether pending appeals will be decided according to the old policies in place when the application was originally determined, or if the new Local Plan policy will take precedence once it’s adopted. (Adoption expected 14 Dec 16.)

I’ve had conflicting answers to that question, and have this mor img sorted it out by speaking to a senior planner. 

Once a new policy is adopted, the local authority must notify the inspectorate. The new policy is definitely a material consideration, but how much weight it is given in an appeal is down to the inspector. So that would be the case here from 14 Dec 16. 

So for any appeals that are pending, it could go either way. But we would generally expect the inspector to give lots of weight to the new policy.