There are some 481 appeals outstanding in respect of special areas of conservation and special protection areas. The majority of these appeals are at Stage 2 of the appeals process where appellants have opted for formal hearings of their cases before the Designated Areas Appeals Advisory Board.
The time taken to process appeals depends on a variety of factors. These can include difficulties encountered by landowners in identifying accurately to my Department the lands they wish to have excluded from a site, the production of scientific reports and arranging formal appeal hearings at times which are suitable to all parties involved. Every effort is being made to process appeals as quickly as possible. It should be noted that the number of appeals on hand has halved in the last year or so.
The information requested regarding the date outstanding appeals were received in the Department is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible. It should be noted that it will not be possible to disclose information on individual appellants for data protection reasons.