Advice to Michael Davies
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- From
- Michael Davies
- Date advice given
- 3 November 2014
- Enquiry type
The Planning Inspectorate received comments on the application during relevant representation stage not made on prescribed form.
Advice given
The Planning Inspectorate issued following advice:
Thank you for your email concerning the application by Roxhill (Kegworth) Ltd for the proposed East Midlands Gateway RFI.
As you may be aware, before submission of the application, the applicant is under duty to carry out its statutory consultation in accordance with the Planning Act 2008 (PA2008). This requires for consultation to be carried out in a certain manner and to a certain standard. Where a person feels that consultation has not been carried out adequately, it should seek resolution by approaching the applicant directly in the first instance. Where dissatisfaction remains, the appropriate mechanism is to make a complaint to the relevant local authority (who can consider this complaint as part of their representation to the Secretary of State on the adequacy of consultation), or to the Secretary of State (via the Planning Inspectorate).
Any complaint should be made promptly following the close of pre-application consultation to ensure that it was received no later than the point at which an application is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. In all cases, the final decision as to whether pre-application consultation was adequately carried out rests with the relevant Secretary of State.
As you are likely aware, on 19 September 2014 the Planning Inspectorate (on behalf of the Secretary of State) made its decision that the application by Roxhill (Kegworth) Ltd was of a satisfactory standard to be accepted for examination. The period within which complaints about pre-application consultation could be made and considered by the Inspectorate as part of its acceptance decision has therefore elapsed. Local authorities were invited to make representations to the Inspectorate concerning the adequacy of the applicant?s pre-application consultation, and any complaints made to them should have been taken into account. Those representations are available to view by clicking the following link:
http://infrastructure.planningportal.gov.uk/projects/east-midlands/east-midlands-gateway-rail-freight interchange/?ipcsection=docs&stage=2&filter=Adequacy+of+Consultation
On submission of the application the Inspectorate applied the associated legal tests (under s55 of the PA2008) to the application documentation, including the consultation evidence provided by the applicant. The Inspectorate decided that the applicant?s pre-application consultation had been of a satisfactory standard, and its commentary and conclusions are available to be read in the ?Acceptance of Applications Checklist?:
I note that you have submitted a relevant representation (RR) which helpfully sets out your comments in relation to the merits of the scheme. Once appointed, the Examining Authority will read all RRs as part of its preparation to examine the application. To clarify the content of this letter however, comments relating to the adequacy of the applicant?s pre-application consultation can no longer be considered.