Advice to Network Rail
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- From
- Network Rail
- Date advice given
- 26 May 2011
- Enquiry type
Following our telephone conversation;
Whilst carrying out a final check of our application documents (including the consultation report) we have identified an issue. A small plot of land (Plot 2 forming part of the hard-standing area at the end of Europa Way) that we are seeking rights over, was owned by a company that has now been dissolved. The land is now therefore vested with the Treasury Solicitor. Our oversight is that we have sent the consultation information to the dissolved company?s head office and not the Treasury Solicitor who is listed in our BoR as a Part 1 Freehold Owner.
We are aiming to submit the application on the 1st June. The consultation pack of information will be sent to the Treasury Solicitor today along with a notification that the response deadline is 28 days from today?s date. The 28 day deadline for a response from the Treasury Solicitor will terminate before the IPC?s 28 day period for vetting/acceptance of the application.
I have 2 questions;
Can we submit our application to the IPC as intended on the 1st of June and subsequently provide an addendum to the consultation report once either a response has been received from the Treasury Office, or the deadline for response has been passed? If the Treasury Office were to respond within, say 14 days stating they have no comment/objection are we required to wait for the full 28 day consultation period to elapse before we can submit the addendum?
The second question is also relevant if your answer to one is ?no?.
Advice given
Thank you for your email in relation to the proposed Ipswich Chord application.
The first point I would mention relates to the identity of the landowner and their description in the Book of Reference. If the land is bona vacantia and is therefore vested in the Crown in accordance with ss. 1012 and 1013 of the Companies Act 2006 (which deal with the property of dissolved companies) you will need to ensure that it is made clear in the application and accompanying documentation, including the Book of Reference, that the land is owned by the Crown and the Treasury Solicitor is acting as the Crown's representative.
Turning to the question of consultation, an application for a DCO must be accompanied by a consultation report which gives details of what has been done in compliance with s. 42 - the duty to consult certain specified bodies/persons prior to submitting the application. A consultation report must set out whether or not all the landowners have been consulted. Consultation must take place before the application is submitted and the consultee must be given a deadline of at least 28 days, starting after the day on which it receives the consultation documents, within which to respond. We therefore suggest that this step is carried out as soon as possible in respect of this plot of land.
The consultation report should also give details of any response to the consultation received by the deadline. If you receive a verbal response from the Treasury Solicitor, acting as the Crown's representative, at any time within the 28 day deadline, the details required by s.37(7) should be recorded in the report. The application can then be submitted accompanied by the report. There is no provision in the Planning Act 2008 which would allow an addendum to a consultation report to be submitted after the application has been received by the Commission.
The Commission has 28 days starting with the day after the day it receives the application to decide whether or not to accept the application. During this period, applicants are required to make available responses to the consultation if the Commission requests this. If details of a verbal response are provided in the report then you would need to ensure that the consultee confirms the verbal response in a letter to you which can be made available to the Commission, within the 28 period for acceptance, if it so requests.