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Advice to Sarah Kearns

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Enquiry

From
Sarah Kearns
Date advice given
25 April 2013
Enquiry type
Email

A query was raised over the Preliminary Environmental Information and whether it was possible to use of the Scoping Report as the PEI.

Advice was sought as to whether The Infrastructure Planning (Prescribed Consultees and Interested Parties etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 are relevant to the A63 Castle Street Scheme.

Advice given

Please see information below with regard to your query on Preliminary Environmental Information (PEI): Legal definition and guidance on PEI

The EIA Regulations define PEI as "information referred to in Part 1 of Schedule 4", and as information which:

a) has been compiled by the applicant, and

b) is reasonably required to assess the environmental effects of the development (and of any associated development)"

(EIA Regulations, paragraph 2(1))

Your attention is drawn to the CLG document: "Planning Act 2008: Guidance on pre-application consultation (September 2009)" (CLG Guidance) which provides advice on the timing and legislative requirements for PEI.

PEI - s.42 and s.47 consultation

Consultation under s.47 of the Planning Act, which must be carried out in accordance with the proposals set out in the SoCC, should include consultation on the PEI in order for the local community to be consulted on this.

Although there is nothing laid down in the Planning Act or relevant Regulations that requires PEI to be provided at the s.42 consultation stage, given that the applicant will provide an ES with their application for EIA development, it would be sensible for them to consult with statutory consultees on PEI.

In preparing PEI, the applicant should apply best practice, giving consideration to the most appropriate form and detail of information based on the target audience, and in order to facilitate effective consultation to inform the EIA and the design of scheme.

The level of information provided as PEI may vary depending on the target audience. The CLG Guidance advises that 'the document should be written in clear, accessible, and non-technical language'. Consultation on PEI may be iterative and is likely to comprise information which is available and has been compiled by the developer at a given time in the design process. The level of detail that applicants provide in their PEI will therefore vary according to when they carry out their consultation. It should be noted that this information is expressly stated to be 'preliminary', albeit it should include the information referred to in Part 1 of Schedule 4 of the EIA Regulations. Hence, the PEI does not have to be a detailed document, although it could be for example if this consultation was carried out later during the pre-application stage, and the information was being provided to a relevant statutory consultee.

Use of the Scoping Report as a basis for PEI

In the email below you indicate that the Scoping Report submitted by the Applicant is likely to form the basis for the PEI. Bearing in mind the advice above regarding effective consultation, while there is no reason in principle why this would not be acceptable, the Applicant must judge the value of using the Scoping report (which has already been subject to consultation) for further consultation with the same consultees without the inclusion of any new information. The Applicant should consider whether taking forward PEI that is at a more advanced stage, and contains new information, may generate a more fruitful response to the consultation and provide a more effective consultation exercise.

It will be important to make clear to consultees that the information is 'preliminary'. It should be clearly stated that the information is a draft on which the applicant is actively seeking comments, and that opportunities remain for both the EIA and scheme design to take into consideration the comments received through consultation. It may be appropriate to identify where new surveys or other investigations are required to ensure that information is up to date.

In relation to your query regarding the changes to the Applications, Prescribed Forms and Procedures Regulations 2009 (APFP Regulations) which sets out the approach to identifying consultees, I can confirm that these Regulations are not applicable to the A63 Castle Street Scheme as a request for a Scoping Opinion under Regulation 8 of The Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 (as amended) was received before the 6 April 2013, the date in which the amendment to the APFP Regulations came into force. You are therefore required to apply the old regulations.

Details of the amendments to the APFP Regulations are set out in Part 3 of The Infrastructure Planning (Prescribed Consultees and Interested Parties etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2013:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/522/contents/made

The transitional arrangements are set out in Part 7 of this legislation.