The Electricity (Offshore Generating Stations) (Inquiries Procedure) (Wales) Regulations 2019

Date and notification of inquiry

15.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the date fixed by the Welsh Ministers for the holding of an inquiry must be no later than—

(a) ten weeks after conclusion of the pre-inquiry meeting, if held;

(b) otherwise eighteen weeks from the date of the relevant notice.

(2) Where the Welsh Ministers consider it impracticable to fix a date in accordance with paragraph (1), the date fixed must be the earliest date which they consider is practicable.

(3) Unless the Welsh Ministers agree a shorter period of notice with the applicant and any qualifying planning authority, they must give not less than four weeks’ written notice of the date, time and location fixed for the inquiry to every person entitled to appear.

(4) The Welsh Ministers may vary the date fixed for the inquiry, whether or not the date as varied is within the period applicable under paragraph (1).

(5) Paragraph (3) applies to a variation of a date as it applied to the date originally fixed.

(6) The Welsh Ministers may vary the time or location for the holding of an inquiry and must give such notice of any variation as appears to them to be reasonable.

(7) A written notice is to be taken to have been given by the Welsh Ministers for the purposes of paragraph (3) where they and any person entitled to appear have agreed that notice of the matters mentioned in that paragraph may instead be accessed by that person via a website, and—

(a) the Welsh Ministers have published that notice on the website; and

(b) not less than four weeks before the date fixed by the Welsh Ministers for the holding of the inquiry, the person is notified of—

(i) the publication of the notice on the website;

(ii) the address of the website; and

(iii) where on the website the notice may be accessed, and how it may be accessed.