The Town and Country Planning (Enforcement) (Determination by Inspectors) (Inquiries Procedure) (Wales) Rules 2003

Written statements of evidence

15.—(1) Any person entitled to take part in an inquiry, who proposes to give, or to call another person to give, evidence at the inquiry by reading a written statement of evidence must—

(a) subject to paragraph (2), send 2 copies, in the case of the local planning authority and the appellant, or 3 copies in the case of any other person, of the written statement of evidence together with a written summary to the National Assembly; and

(b) in the case of an enforcement appeal, simultaneously send copies of these to any person on whom a copy of the enforcement notice has been served,

and the National Assembly must, as soon as practicable after receipt, send a copy of each written statement of evidence together with any summary to the local planning authority and the appellant.

(2) No written summary is required where the written statement of evidence proposed to be read contains no more than 1500 words.

(3) The written statement of evidence and any summary must be sent to the National Assembly so as to be received no later than—

(a) 4 weeks before the date fixed for the holding of the inquiry, or

(b) where a timetable has been arranged pursuant to rule 8 which specifies a date by which the written statement of evidence and any summary must be received by the National Assembly, that date.

(4) The National Assembly must send to the inspector, as soon as practicable after receipt, any written statement of evidence together with any summary sent to the inspector in accordance with this rule within the relevant period, if any, specified in this rule.

(5) Where a written summary is provided in accordance with paragraph (1), only that summary is to be read at the inquiry, unless the inspector permits or requires otherwise.

(6) Any person, required by this rule to send copies of a written statement of evidence to the National Assembly, or any other person, must send with them the same number of copies of the whole, or the relevant part, of any document referred to in the written statement of evidence, unless a copy of the document or part of the document in question is already available for inspection pursuant to rule 6(13).

(7) The local planning authority must give any person who so requests a reasonable opportunity to inspect and, where practicable, take copies of any document sent to or by them in accordance with this rule.