Advice to Stephens Scown LLP
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- From
- Stephens Scown LLP
- Date advice given
- 1 May 2014
- Enquiry type
On 28 April 2014, Mr Lamond submitted a suite of questions to the Planning Inspectorate requesting their inclusion by the Examining Authority (ExA) in his second round of written questions to interested parties. Issue of the second round of question had been timetabled by the ExA for 30 April 2014.
Previously, Mr Lamond had written to the ExA on 18 March describing personal circumstances that would prevent him from attending the hearings as timetabled in the draft examination timetable attached to the 'Rule 6' letter.
Advice given
Thank you for your submission dated 28 April 2014. The Examining Authority (ExA) has chosen to exercise his discretion and has accepted the submission to be read in conjunction with the examination. Your representation will be published to the A30 project webpage as soon as is practicable.
I would emphasise however and you will already be aware, that the process for examining nationally significant infrastructure projects under the Planning Act 2008 (the PA2008) is primarily inquisitorial. It is for the ExA to decide what questions to direct to which interested parties based on the need to gather evidence to advise the decision-maker; in this case the Secretary of State for Transport. Such evidence will be that which the ExA considers to be relevant and important to the examination.
You may wish to consider pursuing answers to the questions set out in your submission directly with the applicant, Cornwall Council. You may then wish to submit additional evidence at the appropriate stage in the examination to update the ExA on any outstanding matters or any issues that in your opinion the applicant has not addressed through direct questioning. Another appropriate means by which you might bring these issues to the attention of the ExA would be at a relevant hearing. The notification of those to be held in June and July of this year is scheduled to be issued to interested parties shortly. ExAs are committed to the imperative that interested parties are not denied the opportunity to ask questions where the answers are required in order to complete their cases, and you will note from DCLG?s guidance document ?Planning Act 2008: examination of applications for development consent? that in certain circumstances cross-examination may be allowed at hearings.
Finally, in relation to the notification of forthcomings hearings in June and July, I refer to the request about timing in your email to the ExA dated 18 March 2014. All parties are challenged by the statutory 6 month examination timetable and you will therefore understand that it is normally impracticable and inequitable for special measures to be employed to accommodate individuals or their representatives. The PA2008 does, however, make provision for parties unable to make representations orally to provide them in writing.