Planning Inspectorate Newsletter - Issue 2
Message from the Chief Executive
I hope that you found the first edition of the Planning Inspectorate Newsletter interesting reading. The positive feedback received suggests that was the case.
This edition covers a diverse range of topics. Ben Linscott’s article suggests ways parties can help to speed up the appeal process by reducing the number of inquiry cancellations and adjournments. Simon Gibbs shares his experience of an inquiry involving landfill sites where the Environment Agency’s approach to waste permits was the major issue. Keith Durrant explains how the Inspectorate is helping Inspectors keep up-to-date with design and spatial planning guidance documents. I hope that readers working in Wales will find the article about the new Welsh Local Development Plan System of interest.
Once again, if you have any comments on the articles in this edition, or suggestions for future articles, please e-mail me on KatrineSporle.news@pins.gsi.gov.uk.
Katrine Sporle
Chief Executive
May 2006
Contact
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Cancelled and Adjourned Inquiries
Inquiries where dates are arranged and then cancelled or adjourned are a major source of frustration and delay for all parties. Ben Linscott, one of the Inspectorate's Inspector Managers, explores the issues and suggests ways to reduce the number of cancellations/adjournments.
Waste Permits
Simon Gibbs, Planning Inspector, discusses appeals at two landfill sites at Burghfield and Colnbrook where the issue was not the continued use of the sites for landfill, but the approach taken by the Environment Agency to the issuing of permits under the Landfill (England And Wales) Regulations 2002 and the Pollution Prevention and Control (England And Wales) Regulations 2000.
Design Matters
Keith Durrant, Planning Inspector, explains how the Inspectorate is helping to ensure that Inspectors' decisions or recommendations consistently apply the principles of good design and spatial planning set out in the various national and local policy guidance documents published in recent years.
Local Development Plans in Wales
The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 created a new system of Local Development Plans (LDPs) in Wales to replace the current Unitary Development Plans (UDPs). Unlike England, the system in Wales continues to be based on a single land use development plan. But the new LDP system is nonetheless different from the existing UDPs in many significant respects.
Stakeholder Meetings
The Planning Inspectorate holds regular meetings with stakeholders. The aim of the meetings is to improve communication between the Planning Inspectorate and representatives of its stakeholders. They also seek to generate two-way engagement and accountability, as well as to identify areas for improvement and future action.
Improving the Quality of Statistical Data
The Planning Inspectorate provides statistical data on planning appeals which is used by a wide range of customers. Rosemary Cook, Head of the Inspectorate's Central Intelligence Unit, explains the steps being taken to ensure that the data is both accurate and timely.
Read the "Improving the Quality of Statistical Data" article >>
Other News
Notification of Inspector decisions
In future, the Planning Inspectorate intends to issue Inspector decision letters by post and e-mail to all relevant parties at the same time, as well as publishing them on the Planning Portal.
At present, decision letters are issued to the main parties (local planning authority (LPA) and agent/appellant) by first class post (Recorded Delivery for Enforcements) and to other parties (non-responding LPA/interested third parties) by second class post.
Planning Inspectorate contributes to culture change
The Inspectorate’s Director of Policy, Leonora Rozee OBE, gave the keynote address to the Planning Law and Practice Conference held on 21 February 2006. The presentation, Sustainable Communities: Change and Challenge, can be viewed on the Inspectorate’s website.
The Planning Inspectorate Inspector Managers in England (Keith Holland, Tony Wharton, Wendy Burden, Ben Linscott and Peter Robottom) took a key part in 9 regional seminars organised by the Planning Advisory Service during February and March. The seminars were to help Local Planning Authorities (LPA) develop their Local Development Frameworks. The Inspector Managers advised LPAs on the Planning Inspectorates experience to date of the documents submitted under the new system and provided advice based on the guidance for assessing the soundness of Development Plan Documents (DPD) published by the Planning Inspectorate in December.
John Davies, Inspector Manager in Wales, is closely involved in developing the Local Development Plan (LDP) system in Wales.
Inspectors may return to the same site
The need for Inspectors to act in a fair, open and impartial manner is, of course, of paramount importance to the integrity of the appeals process. Every appeal is dealt with on its own merits and after careful consideration we do not believe that any fair-minded person would think there was a real possibility of an Inspector being biased against an appeal proposal simply on the grounds that he or she had at some point in the past dealt with another proposal for development on the same site. Therefore we have decided that there are no good reasons for precluding Inspectors from handling appeals on sites where they have previously dealt with an appeal.
