Advice to Mark de Pulford
Back to listEnquiry
- From
- Mark de Pulford
- Date advice given
- 21 June 2017
- Enquiry type
In respect of his experience at a recent consultation event, Mr de Pulford expressed concern that the Applicant "could not answer basic questions about the impact of their development on local residents".
Advice given
The Applicant’s Preliminary Environment Impact Report (PEIR) has been published to its website: http://rsp.co.uk/statutory-consultation/ The PEIR presents the preliminary findings of the Environmental Impact Assessment being undertaken for the proposed development. In the context of your enquiry, Chapter 3 of the PEIR describes the proposed development and makes reference to night flights. Chapter 11 deals with landscape and visual impacts.
Applicants can assess the likely significant impacts of a proposed development using the ‘Rochdale Envelope’ (RE) approach; this is used to assess a likely or reasonable ‘worst case scenario’. This approach is consistent with the objective of the EIA Directive, and the Planning Inspectorate acknowledges the Rochdale approach is a way of dealing with an application comprising EIA development where details of a project have not been resolved at the time when an application is submitted. The Planning Inspectorate’s Advice note 9 explains how Applicants can use the Rochdale approach where a degree of flexibility is stated to be required within the consent sought: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Advice-note-9.-Rochdale-envelope-web.pdf
In the context of your concerns therefore, the Planning Inspectorate would anticipate that during statutory consultation at the Pre-application stage of the process an Applicant may be cautious about giving, or unable to give, detailed and precise advice in respect of the likely impacts on a specific receptor(s).
If an application is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, and if that application is found to be of a satisfactory standard to be examined, you will have the opportunity to register your interest in the Examination and make representations to the appointed Examining Authority about the merits of the proposed development. Details about how to engage with an Examination and have your say, at the appropriate time, are set out in the suite of Advice notes forming the Planning Inspectorate’s Advice note 8: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/legislation-and-advice/advice-notes/
In the meantime if you wish to make any comments about the Applicant’s Pre-application consultation exercise please do so to the relevant local authority, in this case Thanet District Council; and to the Applicant itself.