Advice to British Telecom & UKCPC
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- From
- British Telecom & UKCPC
- Date advice given
- 19 October 2010
- Enquiry type
- Phone
Mr Hill represents both British Telecom and the UKCPC; he feels both the organisations he represents should be statutory consultees.
Advice given
Thank you for your query in relation to British Telecom plc (BT) and the UKCPC becoming statutory consultees for the purposes of the Planning Act 2008 regime.
Schedule 1 of The Infrastructure Planning (Applications:Prescribed Forms and Procedure) Regulations 2009 (the APFP Regulations) lists statutory consultees for the purposes of the Planning Act 2008 (the 2008 Act) regime. This list relates both to consultation by applicants under s.42 of the 2008 Act and any EIA scoping opinion consultation carried out by the IPC.
These prescribed statutory consultees include relevant statutory undertakers. For the purposes of the APFP Regulations “statutory undertaker” has the same meaning as in s127 of the 2008 Act, and the meaning given by s8 (and s16) of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981. These categories do not include telecommunications statutory undertakers such as BT. Further, the statutory list does not presently include any trade bodies such as UKCPC.
Any additions or amendments to these Regulations are the responsibility of the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG); it is not within the remit of the IPC to amend this statutory instrument. Therefore, you may wish to contact CLG direct if you would like to make representations about your organisations being added to the prescribed list. Their contact details are below:
Tel: 0303 444 0000
Web: http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/contact
Under The Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009, the IPC is required to consult with the prescribed statutory bodies in respect of any EIA scoping opinion consultation. The Commission has published an Advice Note which explains the IPC’s role in and approach to the process of scoping environmental statements, which is intended to assist applicants and statutory consultees (IPC Advice Note three). This Advice Note, as with the statutory Guidance and other Advice Notes published by the IPC, is kept under review. A link to IPC Advice Note three is included below:-
It should be noted that BT would though be a 'statutory undertaker' for the purposes of sections 137 and 138 the 2008 Act. These sections are intended to protect the apparatus or rights of telecommunications operators in circumstances where a development consent order authorises the acquisition of land or an interest in or right over land (whether compulsorily or by agreement). BT would also be consulted by an applicant about their proposed application under s.42 of the 2008 Act where BT is an owner, lessee, tenant or occupier of the land (see s.44).
If your organisation would like to discuss this matter further it would probably be useful for BT's legal department to liaise direct with the IPC Legal Team, contact details for whom we can provide on request.