New Forest National Park Inquiry
Guidance for proofs of evidence and other documents submitted to the inquiry
DOCUMENT REFERENCING
General
1. Participants should ensure that each of the documents that they submit to the inquiry is properly numbered and promptly registered with the Programme Officer. The numbering must accord with the instructions set out in this note. The instructions are to enable all the documents used at the inquiry to be identified quickly and easily.
Numbering documents
2. A list of the prefixes to be used by the participants submitting evidence to the inquiry is at Annex A. The Programme Officer is responsible for maintaining the list of prefixes. Any party not shown on the list should contact the Programme Officer for a prefix.
3. Each party will be responsible for numbering its own documents. The document number will begin with the prefix allocated to the particular party. A block of numbers will then be assigned to the documents produced by each of that party's witnesses. For instance, the documents produced by New Forest District Council's first witness will be numbered 106/1/1, 106/1/2, 106/1/3, etc. If that witness produces 14 separate documents, his/her final document will be numbered 106/1/14. The documents produced by the Council's second witness will be numbered 106/2/1, 106/2/2, etc.
4. Some documents may not be attributable to a particular witness (for instance, an advocate may produce the report of a court judgment when making submissions). Such documents should be numbered with a zero following the allocated prefix (e.g. 106/0/1, 106/0/2, etc).
5. All participants should start to number their own documents before the inquiry. All numbers should appear on the top right-hand corner of each document.
Core documents
6. The Programme Officer will be establishing the set of core documents, based on an initial list provided by the Countryside Agency. It will not be necessary witnesses to produce extracts from any of these core documents. A list of core documents will be made available to all participants who should advise the Programme Officer of any documents that, in their view, should be added. The Programme Officer will then request documents from the appropriate party.
7. A set of core documents will be placed in the Inquiry Library. Participants will normally be expected to obtain their own copies of any core documents they require.
Proofs of evidence (for those objectors appearing in a formal session)
8. Proofs of evidence must bear document numbers, as must summary proofs.
The proof of evidence of each witness should bear the first number in
his/her allocation with the summary bearing the second number. Using
the example in paragraph 3 above, the first New Forest District Council
witness would submit his/her proof of evidence as 106/1/1 and his/her
summary as 106/1/2, while the second witness would submit a proof as
106/2/1 and the summary as 106/2/2.
9. Where witnesses submit a set of appendices as a bound volume, each appendix
should be individually tagged with the appendix number. Pages within each appendix
must be numbered.
Further written statements (for those objectors appearing in an informal session)
10. As paragraphs 8 and 9 above.
Plans, photographs, etc
11. It is not necessary to establish different numbering systems for plans, photographs, etc. All material submitted to the inquiry must be treated as documents.
DOCUMENT PRESENTATION
General
12. As far as possible documents should be A4 size.
13. Extracts from published material must indicate the precise context with full titles, chapter headings and dates. A photocopy of the document's title page may be sufficient to indicate its origin and publication date.
Proofs of evidence (or further written statements), and summaries
14. Although applying to planning appeals, there is some advice generally on proofs of evidence given in Annex 3(i) of DETR Circular 5/2000, which may be viewed on the following website - http://www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk/circulars/circular_annex3.htm
15. All pages and paragraphs in proofs and summaries must be numbered to enable all parties to identify references quickly during the presentation of evidence and subsequent cross-examination.
16. Bound volumes of appendices to proofs must have each appendix individually tagged with the appendix number. Pages within each appendix must be numbered.
17. Maps, tables, photographs and diagrams should normally be excluded from proofs of evidence and submitted as appendices.
18. Documents referred to in a proof of evidence that have been deposited as core documents do not need to be included as appendices to the proof.
Plans, maps, diagrams and photographs
19. Plans, maps and diagrams should be of A4 size or folded to A4 size. Plans and maps may be photographically reduced and incorporated in an A3 size plan brochure provided it is flexible enough to be folded to A4 size.
20. The true scale on each plan should be clearly shown, or the plan marked 'not to scale'.
21. Photographs should be mounted on a series of A4 cards, or bound into a brochure. Each photographic view should be individually numbered and the viewpoints from which they were taken shown on a separate Ordnance Survey extract. The time and date at which a photograph was taken should be given. It is also helpful to give the focal length of the lens used.
22. Any models displayed at inquiries should be photographed, preferably in colour, and copy prints submitted as documents.
General
23. Paper copies of all documents must be submitted to the Programme Officer. Where possible, documents (including proofs of evidence and summaries) should be submitted in electronic form, in Microsoft Word 97/2000 compatible format, on diskette, CD-ROM, or by email.
24. Where possible, plans, maps and images should also be submitted to the Programme Officer in electronic format.
25. Please contact the Programme Officer for advice on preferred electronic formats.
SUBMISSION OF EVIDENCE
Proofs of evidence and other written statements for informal sessions
26. Each witness is required to submit a proof separately for each part of the inquiry at which they are due to give evidence. A bound copy of the proofs for a particular witness who may be covering a number of topics is acceptable, but each topic must be separate within the volume.
27. Proofs/further written statements should be submitted no later than the dates shown on the outline programme. For example, if you are due to appear in Week 4, proofs will be due by 10 September. Proofs for appearances from Week 8 onwards are due by 1 October.
28. It is essential that these documents are submitted in time. It is vital for the efficient functioning of the inquiry process that all parties have adequate time to prepare for the inquiry in the light of the case being promoted by the opposing side.
Supplementary proofs/written statements
29. It may not be necessary in all cases, but if it is essential to your case to add to a proof/further statement, supplementary proofs/written statements should be submitted at least two weeks before the start of that block of the inquiry in which your evidence is first scheduled to be heard.
30. The timetable indicates
those dates. For example, if you are due to appear in Week 4, supplementary
proofs/written statements would be due by 15 October. If in Week 11,
by 28 January 2003
Numbers of documents to be submitted, and to whom
Core documents
31. Four copies of core documents will be required by the Programme Officer.
Proofs of evidence/further written statements, and appendices
35. Four copies of proofs/further written statements, supplementary proofs/further written statements, summaries and any documents referred to therein that are not already available for inspection (i.e. as in the core documents in the Inquiry Library) are to be submitted to the Programme Officer at the following address:
Planning Inspectorate
New Forest National Park Inquiry Secretariat
4/24 Hawk Wing
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
Bristol, BS1 6PN
Fax: 0117 372 8102
Email:barbara.bay@planning-inspectorate.gsi.gov.uk
INSPECTING DOCUMENTS
36. Documents will be available for inspection at the Inquiry Library at the inquiry venue, from 3 September 2002 (in original note, date was 27 August).
TIMELINESS
37. It is essential that proofs, summaries and their documents are submitted in accordance with the dates set by the Inspector.
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Please note this Inquiry closed on the 10th April 2003