Advice to National Grid
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- From
- National Grid
- Date advice given
- 19 June 2014
- Enquiry type
- Post
s51 advice issued alongside s55 checklist
Advice given
Dear Ms Suri
Planning Act 2008 (as amended) ? Section 51
Application by National Grid for an Order Granting Development Consent for the Hinkley Point C Connection project
Advice under s51 concerning the Book of Reference, Land Plans, and Environmental Statement
The Secretary of State made the decision on XX June 2014 that the application for the proposed Hinkley Point C Connection project has satisfied the acceptance tests under s55 of the Planning Act 2008 (PA2008). The Planning Inspectorate?s acceptance checklist, published on our website today, notes at section 3.3(d) some observations in relation to the submitted Book of Reference; at section 3.3(i) in relation to the Land Plans, and at 3.3(a) in relation to the Environmental Statement. This letter contains advice to you provided under s51 of the PA 2008.
Special Category and Crown Land Plans The Special Category and Crown Land Plans do not divide the land into plots and no plot numbers are shown. This makes it difficult to identify individual plots and is not consistent with Paragraph 7 of Annex to the DCLG guidance on Compulsory Acquisition, which states that: ?The boundaries between plots should be clearly delineated and each plot separately numbered to correspond with the book of reference.?
It is assumed that this is a printing error; however, we suggest that you prepare to rectify this error in order that all parties can be certain about the nature and extent of compulsory acquisition.
In addition to the above, in section B, D and G there are plots identified in the Book of Reference which do not appear on the relevant plans. This has been identified in detail on the s55 checklist. It is likely that the Examining Authority (ExA) will request that Special Category and Crown Land Plans should be updated in order that they are consistent with the Book of Reference in this regard. It is important that the ExA has certainty about the nature and extent of the land subject to compulsory acquisition powers.
Land Affected Plans and Land Plans It is noted that the Land Affected Plans and Land Plans contain several very small plots. Paragraph 4 of Annex C of the DCLG guidance states that: ?Where the order involves the acquisition of a considerable number of small plots, the use of insets on a larger scale is often helpful.? The ExA is likely to request thatplans should be submitted that would enable the ExA and any affected persons certainty about the location of the plot. Plots 157 and 158 of Section B and Plots 592, 593 and 594 of Section G are pointed out in the checklist.
In addition to the above, discrepancies have been noted between the rights sought in the book of reference and the rights that appear to be shown on the Land Plans. Plots that appear to be affected by this issue are identified in the s55 checklist as plot 403 of Section G and plots 67, 68, 89, 94, and 95 of Section B. It is assumed that this is a printing error; however, the ExA will need certainty about which rights are sought and the Land Plans should be updated in order that they are consistent with the Book of Reference.
With regard to this omission and all of the above issues in relation to plans, we advise that a full audit of the plans is carried out, bearing in mind the DCLG guidance, in order that the ExA and interested parties can have certainty that the plans accurately represent the nature and extent of Compulsory Acquisition for this project.
Book of Reference The Special Category and Crown Land Plans show multiple plots in Section H; however, the corresponding Book of Reference identifies no plots of special category land. The ExA is likely to request that the Book of Reference be updated to correct this omission.
S42(1)(d) Consultees In order to establish whether all persons with an interest in land had been consulted under s42(1)(d), we carried out a comparison of the s42(1)(d) list provided at Appendix 18 to the Consultation Report with addresses in the Book of Reference. We found that a small proportion of the addresses in the Book of Reference were not listed in Appendix 18. It may be that addresses and names were added to the Book of Reference after statutory consultation had been completed; however, we can find no statement confirming this in the Consultation Report or any other document.
It is important that persons with an interest in land are able to participate in the process. To ensure this happens we strongly advise that an audit is carried out prior to the notification of the deadline of relevant representations under s56, in order that there can be certainty that all those affected have been notified and are afforded the opportunity to submit a relevant representation.
Environmental Statement Officers welcome the well-structured way the Environmental Statement has been put together, which makes finding information in it straightforward. However; it is noted that some baseline data is missing from Chapter 8 of the Environmental Statement. The Environmental Statement states that the relevant ecological surveys are currently being undertaken and will be prioritised for survey during the examination period. The ExA is likely to request that the applicant submit the missing ecological surveys at a very early date within the examination period to ensure that the Examining Authority has all relevant evidence before them, and we advise you to prepare for this request.
Minor Discrepancies
The following two minor document naming issues have been noted, the submission of corrected documents will ensure that no confusion arises:
? the electronic copy of ?Environmental Statement Project Need and Alternatives Appendix 2L (5.2.2.7)?, the front cover incorrectly names this Appendix as (12); and ? the hard and electronic copy of Consultation Report Appendix 10A (6.2.2), refers to this document as Appendix (10) rather than 10A on the internal index page.
Submission of updated documents
You are strongly advised to prepare any updates to the documents referred to in this letter so that they can be submitted early during the examination in line with any future timetable which is likely to set a deadline for the submission of updated documents. The ExA is likely to set an early deadline for this material, in order to ensure that all parties have adequate time to consider the updates and comment upon them.
Please pay close attention to the advice set out in this letter and act on it accordingly. This will contribute towards a more efficient examination and give any future ExA comfort that the documentation is complete and accurate.
Mark Wilson Infrastructure Planning Lead