Advice to Wyre Borough Council
Back to listEnquiry
- From
- Wyre Borough Council
- Date advice given
- 12 September 2012
- Enquiry type
- Phone
Request for more detail about Compulsory Aquisition hearings on 8 and 9 October, whether the Council needs to attend, and if it wished to make an objection how it should do so.
Advice given
The 2008 Planning Act as amended by the 2011 Localism Act sets out the types of development for which development consent is required. For clarification, an order granting development consent can also authorise the compulsory acquisition of land under s122 of the 2008 Act. This means that if the Secretary of State decides to grant development consent and authorise compulsory acquisition there will be no further opportunity to make representations or attend hearings in relation to compulsory acquisition of local authority land (subject to any Special Parliamentary Procedure). This is unlike the procedure under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in which compulsory acquisition of land is applied for separately not as part of the planning application process and if necessary a separate CPO inquiry is held at which the principle of compulsory acquisition is tested before a CPO is made.
Further to your question about what the authority would need to do if it wished to raise an objection to the compulsory acquisition of its land and/or rights, section 128 of the 2008 Act provides that a local authority can make a representation containing an objection before the completion of the examination of the application. As you are aware, the Panel examining the application is due to hold a hearing into Compulsory Acquisition matters on 8 and 9 October 2012. If the Council wishes to raise an objection to the compulsory acquisition of land, this is its opportunity to present its case orally, and an opportunity for the Panel to ask any questions it may have.
The Panel is currently preparing questions and an agenda based on the information it has received from the applicant and from other interested parties in their representations and in response to formal questions issued during the course of the examination so far. If the Council wishes to appear at the hearing the Panel would very much appreciate notice, including details of any objection(s) raised. The applicant will also need to have sufficient notice should they wish to respond at the hearing to any points raised in an objection by the Council, or to questions raised by the Panel on the basis of an objection.
As noted above, there is no subsequent opportunity to make an objection as part of a separate process and if you wish to submit an objection you should ensure that this is made in writing before close of the examination. Under section 128 of the 2008 Act, if an objection is made before the close of examination, and is not withdrawn at the point that an order is made, the order would then be subject to Special Parliamentary Procedure.