Planning Inspectorate Newsletter - Issue 7
Inquiry and Hearing Rules for Rights of Way Orders in England 
Some 10 years after they were first proposed the rules have commenced. They have seen off many lawyers, Ministers and administrative staff, and I am one of the few people still working on rights of way who can remember the very first draft back in March 1998! It’s been a long haul but the benefits the rules bring will make the process easier and quicker for everyone involved in rights of way orders.
I know that, because of the different criteria and legal requirements, there are some reservations about the practicality of one set of rules for both Public Path and Definitive Map Orders. However, similar rules are successfully applied across a wide range of other work the Inspectorate does and we are confident that these rules will be workable for both types of order. Whatever people’s opinions, the rules are now in place, they are not going to go away, and it is in everyone’s interests to make them work.
The main feature of the rules is the requirement for all evidence to be submitted to a strict timetable before a hearing or inquiry opens:
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This gives parties - and Inspectors - the opportunity to see and consider all evidence, both in support of and against an order, well in advance. This is obviously beneficial bearing in mind the hearing or inquiry is not primarily the process for gathering evidence, but is the forum for the relevant evidence to be assessed and tested.
It is important to note that we will not normally accept late statements or proofs of evidence and they will be returned to the sender. If, exceptionally, we allow late evidence to be admitted, the failure to comply with the rules could be seen as unreasonable behaviour, and if other parties have suffered unnecessary expense because of this and make a claim for costs, costs might be awarded against the tardy party.
Timetables are also set for the Inspectorate: hearings and inquiries should be held within a certain time (inquiries within 26 weeks of the start date and hearings within 20 weeks). In addition, the rules codify the copying of documents, setting out exactly who statements need to be sent to and where and when copies of the order and other documents may be inspected and copied. We have set ourselves very tight targets to ensure documents are copied to other parties with the absolute minimum of delay.
The rules do not encompass procedures for written representation cases, but we have revised procedures for these to employ the same timeliness principles as the rules. This should make the written representations procedure quicker and simpler, cutting out the repetitive exchanges which have occurred up till now.
The effectiveness of the rules will be monitored and they are due to be reviewed by Defra in 5 years. Any feedback on the rules is welcomed and will be taken into consideration when the review takes place.
We held a training session on the rules in Lincoln on 27 September. We invited well over 600 people and groups, but as the venue had limited capacity we needed to ensure that those who were allotted spaces were as widely representative as possible of all areas of rights of way work in England. Except for a few comments about the location, all the feedback we received was really positive.
Some of the presentations given at the training can be found on our website along with a copy of our new booklet – Guidance on procedures for considering objections to Definitive Map and Public Path Orders - which explains the new rules and the procedures for
written representations.
Annie Owen
Rights of Way Section
