Made | 11th May 2006 | ||
Coming into operation | 10th June 2006 |
whichever is the later;
whose representations the Department is required to take into account before determining the application to which an inquiry relates;
(2) In these Rules, and in relation to the use of electronic communications for any purpose of these Rules which is capable of being carried out electronically—
(3) Paragraphs (4) to (8) apply where an electronic communication is used by a person for the purpose of fulfilling any requirement in these Rules to serve, give or send any statement, notice or other document to any other person ("the recipient").
(4) The requirement shall be taken to be fulfilled where the statement, notice or other document transmitted by means of electronic communication is—
(5) In paragraph (4) "legible in all material respects" means that the information contained in the statement, notice or document is available to the recipient to no lesser extent than it would be if served, sent or given by means of a document in printed form.
(6) Where the electronic communication is received by the recipient outside the recipient's business hours, it shall be taken to have been received on the next working day; and for this purpose "working day" means a day which is not a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday.
(7) A requirement in these Rules that any document should be in writing is fulfilled where that document meets the criteria in paragraph (4).
(8) A requirement in these Rules to send more than one copy of a statement, notice or other document may be complied with by sending one copy only of the statement, notice or other document in question.
Application of Rules
3.
These Rules apply in relation to an inquiry held by the Department in accordance with Article 123B (2) of the 1991 Order.
Preliminary information to be supplied
4.
—(1) The Department shall, on receipt of a certificate, notify the applicant in writing—
(2) This paragraph applies where—
(3) Where paragraph (1) applies and an inquiry is to be held, the applicant or, as the case may be, the person concerned under paragraph (2), unless they have already done so, shall forthwith after the starting date, request a direction by the Secretary of State under Article 123A (2) of the 1991 Order.
(4) The Department shall ensure that within 2 weeks of the starting date—
has been notified that an inquiry is to be held and of the address to which and of the period within which they may make representations to the Department.
Procedure where inspector causes pre-inquiry meeting to be held
5.
—(1) The inspector shall hold a pre-inquiry meeting—
(2) Where the inspector decides to hold a pre-inquiry meeting—–
(b) he shall send a copy of the statement described in paragraph 2(a)(ii) to the Minister or government department concerned;
(c) he shall publish in a newspaper circulating in the locality in which the land to which the application relates is situated a notice of his intention to hold a pre-inquiry meeting and of the statement sent in accordance with paragraph (2)(a)(ii); and
(d) the applicant and the Department shall ensure that within 8 weeks of the starting date 2 copies of each outline statement have been served on the inspector.
(3) The inspector shall, as soon as practicable after receipt, send a copy of the Department's outline statement to the applicant and a copy of the applicant's outline statement to the appointed representative and the Department.
(4) Where rule 4(2) applies or where the Secretary of State has issued a direction, the Department shall—
(b) within the period mentioned in paragraph (2)(d) send a copy of its outline statement to the person concerned in rule 4(2).
(5) The inspector may in writing require a person who has notified him of an intention or a wish to appear at the inquiry to send an outline statement to him and the Department, and the open outline statement to the applicant.
(6) A person required by the inspector under paragraph 5 to send an outline statement to him and the Department, and the open outline statement to the applicant, shall ensure that these are served on the inspector, the Department and the applicant within 4 weeks of the date of the inspector's written requirement.
(7) In this rule "open outline statement" means such part (if any) of an outline statement as does not include or refer to closed evidence.
(8) The inspector shall, as soon as practicable after receipt, send to the appointed representative each outline statement received in accordance with paragraph (5).
(9) The pre-inquiry meeting (or, where there is more than one, the first pre-inquiry meeting) shall be held within 16 weeks of the starting date.
(10) The inspector shall give not less than 3 weeks written notice of the pre-inquiry meeting to—
and he may require the Department to take, in relation to notification of the pre-inquiry meeting, one or more of the steps which he may under Rule 9(7) require them to take in relation to notification of the inquiry.
(11) The inspector—
(12) Where a pre-inquiry meeting has been held pursuant to paragraph (1), the inspector may hold a further pre-inquiry meeting and he shall arrange for such notice to be given of a further pre-inquiry meeting as appears to him necessary; and paragraph (11) shall apply to such a pre-inquiry meeting.
(13) The applicant and the Department shall ensure that 2 copies of any further information requested by the inspector at the pre-inquiry meeting, have been served on him and a copy has been served on each statutory party within 4 weeks of the conclusion of the pre-inquiry meeting.
(14) The inspector shall, as soon as practicable after receipt of information provided under paragraph (13), send a copy of the information received from the applicant to the appointed representative and the Department and a copy of the information received from the Department to the appointed representative and the applicant.
Receipt of Statement of Case etc.
6.
—(1) The Department shall ensure that within—
2 copies of its statement of case have been served on the inspector and a copy has been served on each statutory party.
(2) The Department shall—
(3) The applicant shall ensure that in any case where a pre-inquiry meeting is held pursuant to rule 5, 2 copies of his statement of case have been served on the inspector and a copy of his open statement has been served on each statutory party.
(4) The inspector shall, as soon as practicable after receipt, send a copy of the Department's statement of case to the applicant and a copy of the applicant's statement of case to the Department.
(5) As soon as practicable, the applicant shall send to the Department and the Department shall send to the applicant a copy of any document, or of the relevant part of any document, referred to in the list of documents comprised in the other party's statement of case, as may be required in writing by the other party.
(6) The inspector may in writing require a person, who has notified him of an intention or wish to appear at an inquiry, to send—
(7) A person required by the inspector under paragraph 6 to send 3 copies of his statement of case to the inspector and a copy of his open statement to the applicant and each statutory party, shall ensure that these are served on the inspector, the applicant and each statutory party within 4 weeks of the inspector's written requirement.
(8) The inspector shall as soon as practicable—
(9) The inspector shall, as soon as practicable after receipt of a statement of case received under paragraph 6(a), send a copy to the Department and the applicant.
(10) The inspector may in writing require any person who has sent to him a statement of case in accordance with this rule, to provide such further information about the matters contained in the statement of case as he may specify and may specify the time within which the information shall be served on him.
(11) The Department or applicant required to provide further information, shall ensure that—
and the inspector shall, as soon as practicable after receipt, send a copy of the further information received from the Department to the applicant and a copy of the further information received from the applicant to the Department.
(12) Any other person required to provide further information shall ensure that—
and the inspector shall, as soon as practicable after receipt, send a copy of the further information to the Department and the applicant.
(13) A person other than the applicant who sends a statement of case to the inspector shall send with it a copy of—
referred to in the list comprised in that statement, unless a copy of the document or part of the document in question is already available for inspection pursuant to paragraph (15).
(14) Unless he has already done so, the inspector shall within 12 weeks of the starting date send a written statement of the matters referred to in rule 5(2)(a)(ii) to—
(15) The Department shall afford to a person who so requests a reasonable opportunity to inspect and, where practicable, take copies of—
(16) For the purposes of paragraph (15) an opportunity is to be taken to have been afforded to a person where that person is notified of—
(17) If the Department or the applicant wish to comment on another person's statement of case they shall ensure that within 9 weeks of the starting date—
and the inspector shall, as soon as practicable after receipt, send a copy of the written comments received from the applicant to the Department and a copy of the written comments received from the Department to the applicant.
(18) A person who sends a statement of case to the inspector under this rule and who wishes to comment on another person's statement of case, shall ensure that not less than 4 weeks before the date fixed for the holding of the inquiry—
and the inspector shall, as soon as practicable after receipt, send a copy of the written comments to the Department and the applicant.
(19) The inspector shall, as soon as practicable after receipt, send to the appointed representative any statement of case, document or further information or written comments sent to him in accordance with this rule and served on him within the relevant period, if any, specified in this rule.
(20) For the purposes of this rule "open statement" means such part (if any) of a statement of case as does not include or refer to closed evidence.
Further power of inspector to hold pre-inquiry meetings
7.
—(1) Where no pre-inquiry meeting is held pursuant to rule 5, an inspector may hold one if he thinks it necessary.
(2) An inspector shall give not less than 2 weeks written notice of a pre-inquiry meeting he proposes to hold under paragraph (1) to—
(3) Rule 5(11) shall apply to a pre-inquiry meeting held under this rule.
Inquiry timetable
8.
—(1) The inspector shall arrange a timetable for the proceedings at, or at part of, an inquiry where—
(2) The inspector may arrange a timetable for the proceedings at, or at part of, any other inquiry.
(3) The inspector may, at any time, vary the timetable arranged under the preceding paragraphs.
(4) The inspector may specify in a timetable arranged pursuant to this rule a date by which any proof of evidence and summary sent in accordance with rule 12(1) shall be served on him.
Date and notification of inquiry
9.
—(1) The date fixed by the inspector for the holding of an inquiry shall be, unless he considers such a date impracticable, not later than—
(2) Where the inspector considers it impracticable to fix a date in accordance with paragraph (1), the date fixed shall be the earliest date after the end of the relevant period mentioned in that paragraph which he considers practicable.
(3) Unless the inspector agrees a lesser period of notice with the applicant and the Department, he shall give not less than 4 weeks written notice of the date, time and place fixed by him for the holding of an inquiry to every person entitled to appear at the inquiry.
(4) A written notice shall be taken to have been given by the inspector for the purposes of paragraph (3) where he and a person entitled to appear at the inquiry have agreed that notice of the matters mentioned in that paragraph may instead be accessed by that person via a website, and—
(5) The inspector may vary the date fixed for the holding of an inquiry, whether or not the date as varied is within the relevant period mentioned in paragraph (1); and paragraphs (3) and (4) shall apply to a variation of a date as they would apply to the date originally fixed.
(6) The inspector may vary the time or place for the holding of an inquiry and shall give such notice of any variation as appears to him to be reasonable.
(7) The inspector may require the Department to take one or more of the following steps—
(8) Every notice of inquiry published or sent pursuant to paragraph (7), shall contain—
Appearances at inquiry
10.
—(1) The persons entitled to appear at an inquiry are—
(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) shall prevent the inspector from permitting any other person to appear at an inquiry, and such permission shall not be unreasonably withheld.
(3) A person entitled or permitted to appear may do so on his own behalf or represented by any other person.
Representatives of government departments and other authorities at inquiry
11.
—(1) Where—
the applicant or a person entitled to appear may, not later than 4 weeks before the date of an inquiry, apply to the Department for a representative of the Secretary of State or of the other Minister or government department concerned to be made available at the inquiry.
(2) Where an application is made in accordance with paragraph (1), the Department shall send the application to the Secretary of State, other Minister or government department concerned, who shall make a representative available to attend the inquiry.
(3) A person attending an inquiry as a representative in pursuance of this rule shall state the reasons for the direction or expressed view and shall give evidence and be subject to cross-examination to the same extent as any other witness.
(4) Nothing in paragraph (3) shall require a representative of the Secretary of State, Minister or a government department to answer any question which in the opinion of the inspector is directed to the merits of government policy.
Proofs of evidence
12.
—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a person entitled to appear at an inquiry, who proposes to give, or to call another person to give evidence at the inquiry by reading a proof of evidence, shall—
and the inspector shall, as soon as practicable after receipt, send a copy of each proof of evidence together with any summary to the Department and the applicant.
(2) Paragraph (3) applies where the proof of evidence includes or refers to closed evidence.
(3) Where this paragraph applies a person entitled to appear at an inquiry, who proposes to give, or to call another person to give evidence at the inquiry by reading a proof of evidence, shall—
(b) simultaneously send copies of the open proof and any written summary of it to each statutory party,
and the inspector shall, as soon as practicable after receipt, send a copy of the proof of evidence including closed evidence together with any written summary of it to the Department and a copy of the open proof together with any written summary of it to the applicant.
(4) No written summary shall be required where the proof of evidence proposed to be read contains no more than 1500 words.
(5) The proof of evidence and any summary shall be served on the inspector no later than—
(6) The inspector shall send to the appointed representative, as soon as practicable after receipt, each proof of evidence together with each summary sent to him in accordance with this rule and served on him within the relevant period, if any specified in this rule.
(7) Where a written summary is provided in accordance with paragraph (1) or (3), only that summary shall be read at the inquiry, unless the inspector permits or requires otherwise.
(8) A person required by this rule to send copies of a proof of evidence to the inspector, shall send with them the same number of copies of the whole, or the relevant part, of each document referred to in the proof of evidence, unless a copy of the document or part of the document in question is already available for inspection pursuant to rule 6(15).
(9) The Department shall afford to a person who so requests a reasonable opportunity to inspect and, where practicable, take copies of each document sent to or by him in accordance with this rule.
(10) For the purposes of paragraph (9) an opportunity shall be taken to have been afforded to a person where the person is notified of—
Statement of common ground
13.
—(1) The Department and the applicant shall—
(2) The Department shall afford to a person who so requests, a reasonable opportunity to inspect, and where practicable, take copies of the statement of common ground sent to the inspector.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) an opportunity shall be taken to have been afforded to a person where the person is notified of—
(4) Where the application is made by or on behalf of the Crown, the appointed representative and the applicant shall—
Procedure at inquiry
14.
—(1) Except as otherwise provided in these Rules, the inspector shall determine the procedure at an inquiry.
(2) At the start of the inquiry the inspector shall identify what are, in his opinion, the main issues to be considered at the inquiry and any matters on which he requires further explanation from a person entitled or permitted to appear.
(3) Nothing in paragraph (2) shall preclude a person entitled or permitted to appear from referring to issues which he considers relevant to the consideration of the application but which were not issues identified by the inspector pursuant to that paragraph.
(4) Unless in any particular case the inspector otherwise determines, the Department shall begin and the applicant shall have the right of final reply; and the other persons entitled or permitted to appear shall be heard in such order as the inspector may determine.
(5) A person entitled to appear at an inquiry shall be entitled to call evidence and the applicant, the Department and each statutory party shall, subject to paragraph (6), be entitled to cross-examine persons giving evidence, but subject to the foregoing and paragraphs (6), (7) and (8), the calling of evidence and the cross-examination of persons giving evidence shall otherwise be at the discretion of the inspector.
(6) Nothing in paragraph (5) or paragraph (8)(b) shall permit a person other than—
to hear or inspect closed evidence.
(7) the inspector may refuse to permit the—
which he considers to be irrelevant or repetitious; but where he refuses to permit the giving of oral evidence, the person wishing to give the evidence may submit to him any evidence or other matter in writing before the close of the inquiry.
(8) Where a person gives evidence at an inquiry by reading a summary of his proof of evidence in accordance with rule 12(7)–
(9) The inspector may direct that facilities shall be afforded to a person appearing at an inquiry to take or obtain copies of documentary evidence open to public inspection.
(10) The inspector may—
but any such person may submit to him any evidence or other matter in writing before the close of the inquiry.
(11) The inspector may allow a person to alter or add to a statement of case served on him under rule 6 so far as may be necessary for the purposes of the inquiry; but he shall (if necessary by adjourning the inquiry) give every other person entitled to appear who is appearing at the inquiry an adequate opportunity of considering any fresh matter or document.
(12) The inspector may proceed with an inquiry in the absence of any person entitled to appear at it.
(13) The inspector may take into account any written representation or evidence or any other document served on him by any person before an inquiry opens or during the inquiry provided that he discloses it at the inquiry.
(14) The inspector may from time to time adjourn an inquiry and, if the date, time and place of the adjourned inquiry are announced at the inquiry before the adjournment, no further notice shall be required.
(15) A person who appears at an inquiry, that the inspector expects to last for 8 or more days, and makes a closing submission shall, by the close of the inquiry, provide the inspector with a copy of his closing submission in writing.
Site inspections
15.
—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the inspector may make an unaccompanied inspection of the land before or during an inquiry without giving notice of his intention to the persons entitled to appear at the inquiry.
(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply where a site inspection will involve inspection of closed evidence.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4), during an inquiry or after its close, the inspector—
(4) Where an accompanied site inspection will involve the inspection of closed evidence, paragraph (3) does not apply and the inspector—
(5) In all cases where the inspector intends to make an accompanied site inspection he shall announce during the inquiry the date and time at which he proposes to make it.
(6) The inspector shall not be bound to defer an inspection of the kind referred to in paragraph (3) or (4) where any person mentioned in that paragraph is not present at the time appointed.
Procedure after inquiry
16.
—(1) After the close of an inquiry, the inspector shall make a report in writing to the Department. This report shall include his conclusions and his recommendations or his reasons for not making any recommendations.
(2) Where closed evidence was considered at the inquiry, the inspector shall set out in a separate part ("the closed part") of his report any description of that evidence together with any conclusions, recommendations or advice in relation to that evidence.
(3) When making his recommendation the inspector may disregard any written representations, evidence or any other document received after the close of the inquiry.
(4) Subject to paragraph (5) if, after the close of an inquiry, the Department—
and is for that reason disposed to disagree with a recommendation made by the inspector, it shall not come to a decision which is at variance with the recommendation without first notifying a person entitled to appear at the inquiry who appeared at it of its disagreement and the reasons for it; and affording him an opportunity of making written representations to it or (if it has taken into consideration any new evidence or new matter of fact, not being a matter of government policy) of asking for the re-opening of the inquiry.
(5) Where the Department differs from the inspector on any matter of fact mentioned in, or appearing to it to be material to, a conclusion reached by the inspector in relation to a matter in respect of which closed evidence has been given, the notification referred to in paragraph (4) shall include the reasons for the Department's disagreement unless—
(6) A person making written representations or requesting that the inquiry be re-opened under paragraph (4), shall ensure that such representations or requests are served on the Department within 3 weeks of the date of the Department's notification under that paragraph.
(7) The Department may, as it thinks fit, cause an inquiry to be re-opened, and it shall do so if asked by a person notified under paragraph (4) and within the period mentioned in paragraph (6); and where an inquiry is re-opened (whether by the same or a different inspector)—
Notification of decision
17.
—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), the Department shall, as soon as practicable, notify its decision on an application, and the reasons for it in writing to—
(2) Notification in writing of a decision and reasons shall be taken to have been given to a person for the purposes of this rule where—
(3) Where the Department's reasons for a decision relate to matters in respect of which closed evidence has been given, nothing in paragraph (1) requires the Department to notify those reasons to a person other than—
(4) Subject to paragraph (5), where a copy of the inspector's report is not sent with the notification of the decision, the notification shall be accompanied by a statement of his conclusion and of any recommendation made by him, and if a person entitled to be notified of the decision has not received a copy of that report, he shall be supplied with a copy of it on written application to the Department.
(5) Nothing in paragraph (4) requires the disclosure of the closed part of the inspector's report referred to in rule 16(2) to a person other than—
(6) In this rule "report" does not include any other documents so appended; but a person who has received a copy of the report may apply to the Department in writing, within 6 weeks of the date of the Department's decision, for an opportunity of inspecting any such documents and the Department shall afford him that opportunity.
(7) For the purposes of paragraph (6) an opportunity shall be taken to have been afforded to a person where that person is notified of—
(8) A person applying to the Department under paragraph (4) shall ensure that his application is served on the Department within 4 weeks of its determination.
Allowing further time
18.
The inspector may at any time in any particular case allow further time for the taking of any step which is required or enabled to be taken by virtue of these Rules, and references in these Rules to a day by which, or a period within which, any step is required or enabled to be taken shall be construed accordingly.
Additional copies
19.
—(1) The inspector may at any time before the close of an inquiry request from a person entitled to appear additional copies of the following—
and may specify the time within which such copies should be served on him.
(2) A person so requested shall ensure that the copies are served on the inspector within the period specified.
Sending of notices etc.
20.
Notices or documents required or authorised to be served, sent or supplied under these Rules may be served, sent or supplied—
Use of electronic communications
21.
—(1) Where a person uses electronic communications to transmit any statement, notice or other document for any purpose of these Rules which is capable of being carried out electronically he shall be taken to have agreed to the use of such communications and that his address for that purpose is the address incorporated into, or otherwise logically associated with the notice or document.
(2) Where a person is no longer willing to accept the use of electronic communications for any purpose of these Rules which is capable of being effected electronically, he shall give notice in writing—
and such withdrawal or revocation shall be final and shall take effect on a date specified by the person in the notice but not less than seven days after the date on which the notice is given.
Closed evidence not to be disclosed
22.
Nothing in these Rules shall be taken to require or permit closed evidence to be disclosed to a person other than—
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of the Environment on
11th May 2006
L.S.
Marianne Fleming
A senior officer of the Department of the Environment
[2] S.R. 1993 No. 278 as amended by S.R. 2000 No. 101back