Advice to Dr Andrew Gough
Back to listEnquiry
- From
- Dr Andrew Gough
- Date advice given
- 12 May 2016
- Enquiry type
Assessment of Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges
Advice given
Thank you for your correspondence dated 5 May 2016; its contents have been read and noted.
The Planning Inspectorate does not produce the type of guidance you refer to in respect of Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges (SFRI). The Department for Transport are responsible for preparing the National Network National Policy Statement which would be the key policy document in respect of those SFRI that meet the requirements of the Planning Act 2008. You may wish to contact them in respect of the key points in your letter.
In your letter you also refer to a specific scheme, being Rail Central. This is currently at the Pre-Application stage and the Inspectorate are aware that a scoping request was submitted in December 2015 and that the current consultation exercise (which includes the developer’s Preliminary Environmental Information Report) runs from 28 April 2016 to 30 September 2016. You may wish to share the contents of your letter with the developer of the Rail Central scheme during this statutory consultation activity.
You also mention specific cases that have not been determined through the Planning Act route, however legislation related to the Planning Act governs who is considered to be the Consultation Bodies for the purposes of compiling a Scoping Opinion – more information on this is set out in our Advice Note 3: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/advice_note_3_v5.pdf
There is a useful annexe to that Advice Note that sets out the current approach in respect of Transport for London and when they would be identified as a consultation body for the production of a Scoping Opinion: http://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/an3_annex1.pdf
The legislation in respect of the Planning Act is ‘owned’ by Department for Communities and Local Government.