Advice to Natural England
Back to listEnquiry
- From
- Natural England
- Date advice given
- 10 August 2011
- Enquiry type
- Phone
Do Statements of Common Ground need to be submitted with an application?
Advice given
The IPC expects and encourages applicants to engage fully with statutory bodies (such as Natural England) before an application is submitted so that issues are resolved and, if the application is accepted, so that the Examining authority has comfort that (1) there should be no impediment to other consents and licences (such as a wildlife licence under Habitats Regulations) being issued and/or (2) that sufficient information is provided in relation to habitats assessment. This information may include for example confirmation from Natural England that there are no likely significant effects on European sites or that satisfactory mitigation is being provided where there are adverse impacts. Ideally, agreement reached between applicants and statutory bodies should be documented in a statement of common ground submitted with the application (although there is no statutory requirement to do so). In any event, if an application is accepted, the Examining authority will timetable a date by which statements of common ground should be provided and with this in mind applicants should continue to work with statutory bodies (this may be necessary in any event where other consents have been sought). If discussions with statutory bodies during this period lead to recommendations for fundamental amendments to the application this will however cause difficulties because it will not be possible (as a matter of law) to grant development consent for an application which is not the same application as the one which was accepted for examination.