Professional representatives and others involved in Development Plans may wish to be aware of this note which sets out the standards to which Inspectors will aim to be operating, having regard to where the LPA is in the process. Copies should go to the Programme Officer and, subject to any changes made by the appointed Inspectors in relation to the specific development plan inquiry, should be circulated to all objectors.

Form of Inquiry

The emphasis remains on the use of an inquisitorial approach with sessions led by the Inspector
The advice regarding making as much use as possible of round table sessions, grouped hearings, informal sessions and any other time efficient approaches is unaltered.
Formal sessions based on the traditional approach should only be held where the Inspector is satisfied that this approach is essential to adequately test the evidence or the Inspector believes that a formal approach would be the most efficient way of proceeding. Thus any parties arguing for a formal session will need to provide a fully detailed case explaining precisely why a formal session is essential.
Where the argument is based on the nature of the evidence the request should make it clear what elements of the evidence make it imperative that a formal session is held. If this argument is accepted by the Inspector the formal element should be restricted to those parts of the evidence that need testing in this way.
Where formal sessions are held opening statements should either not be necessary or should be very brief (no more than 5 minutes).
All evidence should be taken as read and thus the only material presented should be any new material not already within the documentation.
As early as possible the Inspector should, where it is feasible and reasonable, inform the parties through the programme officer which aspects of the arguments need further investigation and which elements are adequately covered by the written material. This guidance from the Inspector, although not mandatory, should be taken into account by the parties in preparing their cases and deciding on expert witnesses.
Throughout all sessions (both formal and informal) the Inspector should be pro-active in keeping the proceedings focused on relevant matters that need further exploration.
Round Table Sessions will be organised for each of the main strategic issues.
Hearings will be grouped where possible, so that all parties interested in a particular topic will be present all together. These groupings could bring together

- all objectors to a site

- all objectors to a policy

- geographical groupings, so that all site related objections in a settlement can be heard in the round

- all objections made by a single objector
The Inspector will begin each session by setting the scene, explaining very briefly his/her understanding of the parties' positions and what his/her consider are the main issues/areas where he/she would benefit from some further information/discussion.
Each side will be allowed to ask questions of the other side.

Evidence

The council will prepare a range of Topic Papers setting out the council's position on each of the main areas of dispute. These will be circulated prior to or at the PIM or, at the latest no less than 10 weeks before the inquiry starts to enable the Inspector and all those participating time to familiarise themselves with the information w ell in advance of the Inquiry.
Objectors should rely on their original written representations unless they have any additional information to add which would help the Inspector. There is no need to submit more paper. If they do want to add to their original case then statements must be received within 6 weeks of the start of the inquiry/start of the session when they will be heard. The council will respond within 3 weeks. If the Inspector considers, having read the objection and any other statement that there is nothing more he/she wishes to explore at the Inquiry he/she may invite the objector to revert to the written representations procedure.
All statements submitted by objectors should be concise and focussed on the issues identified by the Inspector. As a general guide such statements should be limited to about 3000 words. The Inspector may return any statements which are considered to be of excessive length containing irrelevant or repetitious material. Technical evidence should be limited to appendices. There will be no need for summary statements.
Where objectors submit further statements they should set out:

- briefly and precisely what part of the plan is objected to and what change is being sought

- what is wrong with the plan in that respect

- why their change would improve the plan

Furthermore they must set out the precise wording that they wish the Inspector to recommend. In dealing with these matters objectors should explain how the plan and their proposed changes relate to national, regional and strategic guidance.

Statements should not contain lengthy extracts of PPGs, other guidance etc. They should simply concentrate upon the main issues and arguments on which their case relies and on which the Inspector will focus their deliberations.
The council will, likewise be expected to maintain strict control over the length of any statements they submit – the advice to objectors above applies equally to the LPA. Ideally, the council should be able to simply rely upon the arguments set out in the original Committee Report that gave the council's reaction to objections. There should be no need to respond to objectors’ statements unless new issues are raised which the Council have not addressed in any earlier analysis of the objection. Where they feel the need to do so they should produce one, comprehensive response for each policy and associated supporting text which has been objected to and for each omission site, addressing all relevant objections. The response should include suggested wording were the Inspector to support the objection.
Note that a change in procedure should not be introduced part way through any development plan inquiry that is already underway unless the revised approach was introduced as an option at any PIM held

The Planning Inspectorate

January 2004