Advice to Ben Wallace MP
Back to listEnquiry
- From
- Ben Wallace MP
- Date advice given
- 4 August 2011
- Enquiry type
- Post
Query regarding the proposed Preesall project and the process under section 52 (obtaining information about interests in land) and section 53 (Rights of entry) of the Planning Act 2008.
Advice given
Your letter covers two separate procedures set out in the Planning Act 2008 (the Act) under section 52 (s.52) - Obtaining information about interests in land, and section 53 (s.53) ? Rights of entry. I refer to the IPC's advice notes on these procedures. We have also written directly to landowners who have been in touch with us to ask about the s.53 procedure for access to land.
Clarification on s.52 of the Act - Obtaining information about interests in land
The Act provides a power for the IPC to authorise a developer to serve a written notice on specified persons to obtain information about land interests. The purpose of this power is to enable a developer to comply with other parts of the Act. A developer can request an authorisation before or after an application for development consent is made to us. Only an Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) Commissioner can grant authorisation to serve notice.
The information a written notice can require is the name and address of persons with a specified interest in the land. I set these out, and details of who notice can be served on, in Attachment 1 for your convenience.
Communities and Local Government guidance states ?applicants are expected to act reasonably, first seeking to obtain relevant information directly before seeking [IPC] authorisation. Specifically, applicants should only submit requests for those aspects of information?where they consider they have been reasonably refused that information.?
Where we have authorised a developer to serve a written notice, and where a person fails without reasonable excuse to comply with the notice, that person would commit an offence liable to a fine. The definition and circumstances of an ?offence? are set out in s.52 (6)-(9) of the Act.
s.52 in relation to the proposed Preesall project
The IPC has not to date received any request for authorisation under s.52 in relation to the proposed application. However, Halite could in future seek to submit a request to us for authorisation under s.52 of the Act.
If local residents have queries or concerns about the steps being undertaken by the developer to obtain information about interests in land, they should raise these with the developer directly and may copy them to us.
Rights of entry procedure: s.53 of the Act
Your letter requests clarification about the procedure for an ?IPC authorisation for access?. s.53 of the Act makes provision for a developer to apply to the IPC for authorisation for a right of entry to gain access onto land in order to carry out surveys and take levels. The IPC can only authorise entry onto land if it is satisfied that certain conditions are met. I enclose a copy of our Advice Note 5, section 3 of which explains this in more detail, but have set the conditions out in Attachment 1 for your convenience.
As with s.52, the IPC needs to be satisfied that a s.53 authorisation request is a last resort and expects a developer to demonstrate that all reasonable efforts have been made to obtain rights of entry to the land prior to making the request to the IPC. This includes the negotiation of the proposed conditions for access with the relevant landowners.
s.53 in relation to the proposed Preesall project
The IPC recently received six requests from Halite for authorisation under s.53 of the Act. These requests related to access to land for the purpose of surveys described by Halite as non-intrusive ecological / archaeological surveys.
However on 3 August, Halite informed us that all six requests seeking authorisation for entry to land under s.53 have been withdrawn. Halite has advised us that it has written to each of the landowners confirming this withdrawal. Following this confirmation, we will no longer be determining these requests for authorisation.
Any advice we have provided to Halite or the landowners about our process for dealing with the s.53 requests will be made available on the register of advice on our website.