Advice to Jamie Robertson
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- From
- Jamie Robertson
- Date advice given
- 24 February 2011
- Enquiry type
According to your website: "The application is expected to be submitted to the IPC Winter 2010/11. The IPC has 28 days from the day after submission (known as the acceptance stage) to review the application and decide whether or not to accept it."
It then says what happens if you decide to accept an application, but not what happens if you decide not to accept it.
I guess it may depend on the grounds for non-acceptance, e.g. whether the developer has not provided sufficient information, or has not conducted pre-application consultation.
Can you enlighten me please?
Advice given
Dear Mr Robertson,
If, after careful consideration during the acceptance stage, the IPC decides not to accept an application then a Commissioner will write to the applicant on behalf of the Commission and explain our decision. This is called a ?Section 55 decision?. You can see an example of such a letter on the project page for the Maesgwn electrical connection at http://infrastructure.independent.gov.uk/projects/wales/electric-line-connection-to-maesgwyn-wind-farm/. The IPC takes no further action on the application.
It is then for the developer to decide how to proceed. The applicant can legally challenge a decison not to accept an application in the High Court. Alternatively, the developer could attempt to correct the application to address the issue and submit it again. As you say, that decision is likely to depend upon why the application was not accepted, but it is not a decision the IPC will make. We will give advice on procedure to the developer (or to any other party) if requested to do so.
The acceptance stage is not a judgement on the merits of a proposal; only on whether or not the application is adequate to proceed to examination. There is nothing to prevent a developer from making amendments and submitting the application again as many times as they wish until they produce an application that is suitable to proceed to examination. However, the applicant would have to pay a submission fee with every submitted application.
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