New planning appeal fee doesn't cover government costs says Minister

Government must be fair to both sides in appeal process

The new £276 fee for planning appeals still doesn't come close to the cost to government.

Environment Minister Geoffrey Boot told the House of Keys this morning that the average cost for an appeal is around £1,000 per case for an inspector, not including department staff costs.

The fee was recently increased from £175.

He was making a statement following a question from Onchan MHK Rob Callister, who suggested to him that such appeals were about fairness, and wanted to know how many people had got the fee back.

Mr Boot pointed out they had to be fair to both parties in an appeal case. 

In 2018, 28% of the 58 appeals made were successful, with 16 people being reimbursed.