Advice to Walker Morris
Back to listEnquiry
- From
- Walker Morris
- Date advice given
- 7 February 2011
- Enquiry type
Request for further information regarding the procedure to be adopted at a compulsory acquisition hearing. Including how the IPC will ensure that those whose interests may be compulsory acquired have a fair chance to put their case for resisting the grant of a CPO if the merits of an applicants scheme are not also to be tested at hearings.
Advice given
Firstly, in relation to s92 of the Planning Act 2008, the previous notifications made on behalf of your clients are noted in both your relevant representation and correspondence submitted prior to the preliminary meeting, and confirm that you will not need to provide further notification of your wish for a compulsory acquisition hearing to be held.
The CLG guidance for the examination of applications for development consent paras 99-111 provides guidance on the procedure to be adopted at hearings. This together with the CLG guidance relating to procedures for compulsory acquisition should enable advice to be given on the detailed written representations to be now prepared to allow the examination of the important and relevant issues connected to the proposed compulsory acquisition of land. In addition, questions raised by the Examining authority (ExA) during the examination, as well as the representations submitted by other interested parties should also assist any party when considering how to structure their own representations.
It may also be worth considering the guidance in para 74 of the examination guidance which reiterates that the ExA is expected to set and maintain an 'investigatory approach'; this underlines the procedures set out in the Planning Act 2008 and related Rules which provide a different approach to previous regimes, and on that basis a different approach to either costs or 'prejudice' arguments would be expected to be applied.
Compulsory acquisition hearings will allow the ExA to ask questions of those parties who have submitted relevant and written representations on compulsory acquisition matters and provide an opportunity for affected persons to make oral representations based on their written representations. Para 40 of the guidance on examinations makes clear that the compulsory acquisition hearing ensures affected persons are properly protected under the new regime.
It is also relevant to note that the letter accompanying the procedural decision explains that the ExA, after having considered the written representations submitted by Interested Parties, may consider additional specific issues hearing on any topic to be necessary and invites parties to put representations in writing to it about the need for any additional specific issue hearings.