The Town and Country Planning (Major Infrastructure Project Inquiries Procedure) (England) Rules 2005

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Rules—

“additional inspector” means an inspector appointed by the Secretary of State under section 76B(3)(a)(1) of the Planning Act;

“assessor” means a person appointed by the Secretary of State to sit with an inspector at an inquiry or re-opened inquiry to advise the inspector on such matters arising as the Secretary of State may specify;

“by local advertisement”, in relation to a notice, means—

(a)

by publication of the notice in at least one newspaper circulating in the locality in which the land to which the application relates is situated; and

(b)

where the local planning authority maintain a website for the purpose of advertisement of applications, by publication of the notice on the website;

“the Commission” means the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England(2);

“development order” has the meaning given in section 59 of the Planning Act;

“document” includes a photograph, map or plan;

“electronic communication” has the same meaning as in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000(3);

“environmental statement” has the same meaning as in regulation 2 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999(4);

“inquiry” means an inquiry in relation to which these Rules apply; and where an inquiry is conducted by means of concurrent sessions, it includes any such session;

“inspector” includes a lead inspector and an additional inspector;

“land” means the land or building to which an inquiry relates;

“lead inspector” means a person appointed by the Secretary of State under section 76A(4)(b) of the Planning Act;

“the Listed Buildings Act” means the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990(5);

“listed building consent” has the meaning given in section 8(7) of the Listed Buildings Act;

“local planning authority” means, in relation to a referred application, the body which would otherwise have dealt with the application;

“major participant” means a person who has indicated in accordance with rule 6(2)(d) that he is likely to want to be represented formally and to play a major part in the inquiry;

“mediator” means a person who is appointed by the Secretary of State to undertake a mediation under rule 8;

“outline statement” means a written statement of the principal submissions which a person proposes to put forward at an inquiry;

“the Planning Act” means the Town and Country Planning Act 1990(6);

“pre-inquiry meeting” means a meeting held before an inquiry to consider what may be done with a view to securing that the inquiry is conducted efficiently and expeditiously, and where two or more such meetings are held about the same inquiry, references to the conclusion of a pre-inquiry meeting are references to the conclusion of the final meeting;

“referred application” means an application which is referred to the Secretary of State for determination;

“registration form” means a form for completion by persons who wish to participate in the inquiry;

“relevant notice” means the Secretary of State’s notice under rule 4;

“statement of case” means, and comprises, a written statement which contains—

(a)

full particulars of the case which a person proposes to put forward at an inquiry;

(b)

a list of any documents which that person intends to refer to or put in evidence;

(c)

a list of the individuals whom that person proposes to call as witnesses; and

(d)

the subject-matter of the evidence of each such witness;

“statement of common ground” means a written statement prepared jointly by the local planning authority and the applicant, which contains agreed factual information about the proposal which is the subject of the application;

“statutory party”, in relation to a referred application to which these Rules apply, means—

(a)

a person mentioned in paragraph (1)(b)(i) of article 19 of the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995(7) whose representations the Secretary of State is required by paragraph (3) of that article to take into account in determining the application; and

(b)

a person whose representations the Secretary of State is required by paragraphs (3)(b) and (5) of regulation 6 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Regulations 1990(8) to take into account in determining the application,

“technical adviser” means a person appointed by the Secretary of State under rule 7.

(2) Subject to paragraph (4), a requirement imposed on the Secretary of State or the inspector to circulate a document is met by sending a copy of that document to—

(a) the local planning authority;

(b) the applicant; and

(c) each major participant.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), a requirement imposed on the Secretary of State or the inspector to deposit a document is met by sending a copy of it to the local planning authority.

(4) Nothing in paragraphs (2) or (3) requires the Secretary of State or the inspector to send a copy of a document to the person from whom it was received.

(1)

Section 76B was inserted by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, section 44.

(2)

See section 32 of the National Heritage Act 1983 (c. 47).

(3)

2000 c. 7.

(4)

S.I. 1999/293 amended by S.I. 2000/2867.

(5)

1990 c. 9. Schedule 3 was amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991 (c. 34), section 25 and Schedule 3, Part II, paragraph 28 and by S.I. 1997/2971. Section 12 was amended by section 17 of the Transport and Works Act 1992 (c. 42). There are other amendments not relevant to these Rules.

(6)

1990 c. 8. Section 78 was amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991 (c. 34), section 17(2). Schedule 6 was amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, section 32 and 84(6) and Schedule 7 paragraphs 8 and 54 and Schedule 19, Part I; by the Tribunal and Inquiries Act 1992 (c. 53), section 18 and Schedule 3, paragraph 28; by the Environment Act 1995 (c. 25), Schedule 22, paragraph 44 and by S.I. 1992/1491, 1992/1630, and 1997/2971. Sections 76A and 76B were inserted by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (c. 5), section 44. There are other amendments not relevant to these Rules.

(7)

S.I. 1995/419, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Rules.

(8)

S.I. 1990/1519, regulation 6 is modified where listed building consent or conservation consent is required for the purposes of certain proposals included in an application under section 6 of the Transport and Works Act 1992 (c. 42) by S.I. 1992/3138. There are other amendments not relevant to these Rules.