Advice to Greg Hall
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- From
- Greg Hall
- Date advice given
- 23 July 2014
- Enquiry type
I have been contacted by the j24 action group trying to stop this development.
Like them, I had no prior knowledge of any consultation and was not aware of any public meeting until it was too late to attend.
When I attempted to contact Roxhill by telephone to gain more information the telephone was answered by a young lady who did not have a contact address or an email address for Roxhill. When pressed, she gave me her personal e-mail address. There were none of the background sounds usually associated with an office and I suspected she was working from home. I received no reply to my request for further information.
Clearly Roxhill are well aware of the strong protest their proposed development is attracting but are still hoped to get planning consent on the sly.
I agree with the j24 action group that the consultation process continues to be completely inadequate and that the proposed development is unnecessary and destructive.
There is a large acreage with an existing rail link and new road links on the former Castle Donington power station site; many people are wondering why development on open countryside next to the congested junction 24 is even being considered.
This is the information I want to see presented to the government planning inspector.
Advice given
Before a decision can be made by the Planning Inspectorate (on behalf of the Secretary of State) on whether to accept an application for Examination, local authorities are invited to make representations to the Inspectorate concerning the adequacy of the applicant?s pre-consultation. The Inspectorate will write to relevant local authorities when an application has been received to ask for their comments in relation to this. The Inspectorate, on behalf of the Secretary of State, must have regard to these representations in making its decision on whether to accept an application to proceed to be examined.
Pre-application consultation is a statutory duty for applicants, and the Planning Act 2008 requires for it to be carried out in a certain manner and to a certain standard. Issues about the adequacy of an applicant's pre-application consultation should be shared and considered prior to the Inspectorate making a decision on accepting an application for examination. Where any person feels that an applicant's pre-application consultation was inadequately carried out, they should seek resolution by approaching the applicant in the first instance.
You have described an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve information from the applicant, and where persons remain unsatisfied with an applicant?s pre-application consultation they should 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 Inspectorate). Any complaint should be made promptly following the close of consultation to ensure that it is received not later than the point at which an application is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. Please note that based on Roxhill Developments Ltd?s most recent communications, its submission of the development consent application is anticipated in late July or early August 2014. In all cases, the final decision as to whether pre-application consultation was adequately carried out rests with the Secretary of State.
Separately, where someone believes they have identified an issue which has not been adequately addressed by the applicant, despite raising it with them as part of their pre-application consultation exercises, they may wish to make a written representation about that issue to the Examination of that application. This will ensure that the issue is read by the appointed Examining Authority during the Examination. If an application is accepted for Examination it is important that you register as an Interested Party at the appropriate time and you can do this through our website. You may find the following advice note helpful:
Advice note 8.3: How to register and become an interested party in an application: http://infrastructure.planningportal.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Advice-note-8-3v4.pdf
You may also find the following guidance and advice note helpful:
Guidance on the Pre-Application Process (The Planning Act 2008): https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/49468/Planning_Act_2008_pre-applications.pdf
Advice note 16: The developer?s pre-application consultation, publicity and notification duties: http://infrastructure.planningportal.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Advice-note-16.pdf