Advice to Geoffrey Whitelegg

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Enquiry

From
Geoffrey Whitelegg
Date advice given
7 December 2011
Enquiry type
Email

Following a referral from the Highways Agency to the Infrastructure Planning Commission concerning planned changes to the M60 Junction 11 and other sites close by on the A57, I consulted the IPC website, but these works do not appear to be included in the 76 projects listed.

Can the IPC confirm whether Salford Council/Peel Holdings have applied to the IPC for review of their proposed road closures? If a recent application has been made, how far on is it and when is the decision likely?

A 2010 news item states that the Coalition Government will be abolishing the IPC. Is the IPC still in operation or are you to be replaced?

Advice given

The Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) is being abolished and its functions transferred to a new National Infrastructure Directorate within the Planning Inspectorate. The Government’s intention is to make this change in April 2012 and the relevant legislation for the changeover is contained within the recently passed Localism Act 2011.

Government Ministers have stated that the switchover to the new arrangements will be seamless. Any application already undergoing the IPC process at the point that the change is implemented will continue at the same point in the process through the use of transitional arrangements.

The IPC and its successor’s role in the planning system is to determine Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs). While road closures could potentially form part of an application that would be examined by the IPC, they would have to be part of a wider scheme that meet the thresholds for NSIPs, as defined under Sections 14-30 of the Planning Act 2008.

We currently have no NSIPs within the North-West area that appear to match either the highway improvements or the rail / freight interchange detailed in your email. All such applications are displayed in our register of applications on the IPC website, including schemes that are currently at pre-application stage. A link to the relevant section is provided below.

http://infrastructure.independent.gov.uk/projects/north-west/

I hope this response is helpful. If you have any further questions, please feel free to call our enquiries line on 0303 444 5000.