Advice to John Broughton

Enquiry

• From: John Broughton
• Date advice given: 22 May 2012
• Enquiry type: Email

If any interested party [in the loosest possible definition] declines to comment at the draft stage and reserves that comment until your formal procedure is in place will that in any way predjudice your acceptance of relevant information?

At the pre-examination stage, is there a specific time limit within which the public must register?

Advice given

It is for an individual to decide if and when you wish to make your comment or make information known to the applicant or the Examining Authority. This is a front-loaded system and we would strongly encourage individuals to express their opinions to the applicant before an application is formally submitted as once formally submitted to the Secretary of State, there is limited opportunity to change the proposed scheme. If a scheme is accepted to progress to Examination, an individual who has registered as an interested party will then have the right to submit information to the Examining Authority as part of the Examination process.

The Planning Act 2008 sets out a minimum period of 28 days in which the public can register as an interested party. It is for the applicant to notify of the timeframe within which people can register and the actual timeframe is at the applicant's discretion providing it is a minimum of 28 days.