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Advice to Toni Harrington

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Enquiry

From
Toni Harrington
Date advice given
27 January 2014
Enquiry type
Phone

Mrs Harrington rang the Planning Inspectorate with concerns that the methods used by the developer to advertise the consultation for the proposed application are not reaching the local community and sought advice regarding who she should contact concerning this.

Advice given

As you may be aware, the East Midlands Gateway Rail Freight Interchange scheme is currently at the ?pre-application? stage of the Planning Act 2008 (as amended) (PA 2008) process. The application is expected to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in Q1/2 of 2014.

At this stage of the process the developer should be your first point of contact and it is recommended that you refer to the developer?s website for information on how to contact them I have included a link to the applicant?s website below: http://www.roxhill.co.uk/portfolio/kegworth/

Before formally consulting people in the vicinity of the project, the developer must prepare a Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC), having first consulted relevant local authorities about what it should contain. The purpose of the SoCC is to provide details on the consultation process, which the developer intends to undertake with the local community about their project. The developer is then required to carry out their consultation with the local community as set out in the SoCC.

If you are not satisfied with the developer?s consultation process you should inform the developer about your concerns as soon as possible and give them an opportunity to respond. However, as you raised concerns regarding consultation during our telephone conversation, you may also wish to send a copy of your correspondence to the relevant local authority. When an application is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate following the pre-application stage, we have a 28 day period during which under delegated powers from the Secretary of State the Planning Inspectorate will decide whether to accept the application to progress to the examination stage. During this time we will invite relevant local authorities to provide us with their comments on the adequacy of the applicant?s consultation.

If the application is accepted for examination, there will be the opportunity to register your views with the Planning Inspectorate and participate in the examination by completing a relevant representation form. Details about how and when to register will be publicised by the developer in local newspapers and on site notices. Please note that you are unable to register as an interested party during the current (pre-application) stage of the process for this proposal.

The Planning Inspectorate has produced several advice notes to help provide an overview of the PA 2008 process and the opportunities to get involved. These are available via the link below. In this instance I recommend reviewing advice note eight series ? ?How to get involved in the planning process?. You may access these documents on our website at the following link:
http://infrastructure.planningportal.gov.uk/legislation-and-advice/advice-notes/