Advice to Anonymous
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- From
- Anonymous
- Date advice given
- 13 July 2021
- Enquiry type
Dear Sirs, Thank you for your reply, normally when considering planning applications for establishments regulated by the COMAH regulations the Local Planning Authority under the guise of the Hazardous Substance Authority are required to assess the residual risk presented, the COMAH regulations clearly state that any development that leads to greater human activity adds to the residual risk and should therefore be refused, this application confirms the employment of 10 additional on site personnel which leads to greater human activity. As the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State are deciding on this application they must now also accept responsibility for assessing residual risk, this is not the responsibility of The COMAH Competent Authority or any other statutory authority nor can this be negated by a Development Consent Order. It is unthinkable that the residual risk aspect of this application which affects circa 40,000 nearby inhabitants should not be properly considered because the development falls under the umbrella of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Planning Regime. Regards Neil Scarff
Advice given
Dear Mr Scarff, Thank you for your email dated 29 June 2021. The proposed Oikos Marine and South Side Development project is currently at Pre-Application stage and application for development consent has not yet been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for consideration. An application is expected to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in Quarter 3, 2021. Please note that the Pre-Application consultation process is entirely led by the Applicant, who are responsible for ensuring that they comply with the legislative requirements surrounding consultation, which are set out in the Planning Act 2008. This includes a legal requirement for the Applicant to consult with Statutory Bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Although the Applicants statutory consultation has now closed, the Planning Inspectorate would advise you to raise your concerns with the Applicant at this stage. If you are not satisfied that the Applicant is taking them into account you should raise this with the Local Authority also. You can of course contact the Health and Safety Executive / the Environment Agency for further information in relation to the COMAH Regulations. You can make general enquiries about this project with the developer or register for their project updates via the following contact details: • Email: oikos@communityrelations.co.uk • Phone: 0800 206 2583 • Post: OIKOS FREEPOST Further information on the project, including their consultation activities and documents are still available on the OMSSD website at www.oikos.co.uk/omssd/consultation Information about the Planning Inspectorate’s remit once the Application is submitted If the Application has been submitted, and subsequently accepted for Examination, you will be able to register as an Interested Party and make Relevant Representations for the Examining Authority to consider. If you wish to register as an Interested Party, you may wish to make the points you have raised in your emails below as part of your Relevant Representation. The Examining Authority will make an initial assessment of the issues arising from the submitted application as well as from the Relevant Representations, which will inform their Examination of the proposed development. Once registered you can submit further evidence or raise concerns for consideration during the Examination. Please read the Planning Inspectorate’s advice note on How to Register to participate in an Examination for further information. In order to assist parties in understanding the Planning Act 2008 process, the Planning Inspectorate has prepared a suite of Advice Notes, which are available on our website. The Advice Note 8 series provide an overview of the examination of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects for members of the public. Hopefully you will find these of assistance. You may wish to note that the Planning Inspectorate has set up a project page for the Oikos scheme. You can register for updates on the project by entering an email address in the “Email Updates” section on the right hand side of the project page. This will then alert you as to when the Application has been received, and the period for registering and making Relevant Representations has opened. All documents received and issued during the course of the Examination will be published to this page. For clarification, the Planning Inspectorate will not be deciding the application (if submitted and accepted to proceed to examination), it will be for the Secretary of State for Transport to decide the Development Consent Order. I hope you find this information useful. Kind regards