Town and Country Planning (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 1988
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1988/944 |
1988 No. 944
TRIBUNALS AND INQUIRIES
The Town and Country Planning (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 1988
Made 24th May 1988
Laid before Parliament 16th June 1988
Coming into force 7th July 1988
The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 11 of the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 19711, and after consultation with the Council on Tribunals, hereby makes the following Rules:
Citation and Commencement
1. These Rules may be cited as the Town and Country Planning (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 1988 and shall come into force on 7th July 1988.
Interpretation
2. In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires, references to sections and Schedules are references to sections of, and Schedules to, the Town and Country Planning Act 19712and—
“applicant”, in the case of an appeal, means the appellant;
“assessor” means a person appointed by the Secretary of State to sit with an inspector at an inquiry or re-opened inquiry to advise the inspector on such matters arising as the Secretary of State may specify;
“the Commission” means the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England;
“conservation area consent” means consent required by section 277A(2)3;
“development order” has the meaning assigned to it by section 24;
“document” includes a photograph, map or plan;
“inquiry” means a local inquiry in relation to which these Rules apply;
“inspector” means a person appointed by the Secretary of State to hold an inquiry or a re-opened inquiry;
“land” means the land, tree or building to which an inquiry relates;
“listed building consent” has the meaning assigned to it by section 55(3A)4;
“local authority” has the meaning assigned to it by section 290(1);
“local planning authority” means—
(i) in relation to a referred application, the body who would otherwise have dealt with the application;
(ii) in relation to an appeal, the body who were responsible for dealing with the application occasioning the appeal;
“outline statement” means a written statement of the principal submissions which a person proposes to put forward at an inquiry;
“pre-inquiry meeting” means a meeting held before an inquiry to consider what may be done with a view to securing that the inquiry is conducted efficiently and expeditiously, and where two or more such meetings are held references to the conclusion of a pre-inquiry meeting are references to the conclusion of the final meeting;
“referred application” means an application of any description mentioned in rule 3(1) which is referred to the Secretary of State for determination;
“relevant date” means the date of the Secretary of State’s written notice to the applicant and the local planning authority of his intention to cause an inquiry to be held, and “relevant notice” means that notice;
“the 1974 Rules” means the Town and Country Planning (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 19745;
“section 29(3) party” means—
(a) a person whose representations the Secretary of State is required by the application of section 29(3)6or by regulations under Part I of Schedule 117to take into account in determining the referred application or appeal to which an inquiry relates; and
(b) in the case of an appeal, a person whose representations the local planning authority were required by section 29(3) or those regulations to take into account in determining the application occasioning the appeal;
“statement of case” means a written statement which contains full particulars of the case which a person proposes to put forward at an inquiry and a list of any documents which that person intends to refer to or put in evidence;
“tree preservation order” means an order under section 608.
Application of Rules
3.—(1) These Rules apply in relation to any local inquiry caused by the Secretary of State to be held in England or Wales before he determines—
(a)
(a) an application in relation to planning permission referred to him under section 359or an appeal to him under section 3610, or under section 36 as applied by section 3711;
(b)
(b) an application for consent referred to him under a tree preservation order or an appeal to him under such an order, with the exceptions that rule 4(1) shall not apply and the references to a section 29(3) party shall be omitted;
(c)
(c) an application in relation to listed building consent referred to him under paragraph 4 of Schedule 11 or an appeal to him under paragraph 8 of Schedule 11, or under paragraph 8 as applied by paragraph 9 of that Schedule, including an application or appeal referred or made under any of those paragraphs as applied by section 56B(2)12;
(d)
(d) an application in relation to conservation area consent referred to him under paragraph 4 of Schedule 11 or an appeal to him under paragraph 8 of Schedule 11, or under paragraph 8 as applied by paragraph 9 of that Schedule, as those paragraphs are applied in the case of such an application or appeal by virtue of section 277A13, including an application or appeal to which section 56B(2) is applied by section 277A,
but do not apply in relation to any local inquiry by reason of the application of any provision mentioned in this paragraph by any other enactment.
(2) Where these Rules apply in relation to an appeal which at some time fell to be disposed of in accordance with the Town and Country Planning Appeals (Determination by Inspectors) (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 198814or Rules superseded by those Rules15, any step taken or thing done under those Rules which could have been done under any corresponding provision of these Rules shall have effect as if it had been taken or done under that corresponding provision.
Preliminary information to be supplied by local planning authority
4.—(1) The local planning authority shall, on receipt of a notice from the Secretary of State of his intention to cause an inquiry to be held (“the relevant notice”), forthwith inform him and the applicant in writing of the name and address of any section 29(3) party who has made representations to them; and the Secretary of State shall as soon as practicable thereafter inform the applicant and the local planning authority in writing of the name and address of any section 29(3) party who has made representations to him.
(2) This paragraph applies where—
(a)
(a) the Secretary of State or any local authority has given to the local planning authority a direction restricting the grant of planning permission for which application was made; or
(b)
(b) in a case relating to listed building consent, the Commission has given a direction to the local planning authority pursuant to paragraph 6(2)(b) of Schedule 11 as to how the application is to be determined; or
(c)
(c) the Secretary of State or any other Minister of the Crown or any government department or local authority has expressed in writing to the local planning authority the view that the application should not be granted either wholly or in part, or should be granted only subject to conditions, or, in the case of an application for consent under a tree preservation order, should be granted together with a direction requiring replanting; or
(d)
(d) any authority or person consulted in pursuance of a development order has made representations to the local planning authority about the application.
(3) Where paragraph (2) applies, the local planning authority shall forthwith after the date of the relevant notice (“the relevant date”) inform the person or body concerned of the inquiry and, unless they have already done so, that person or body shall thereupon give the local planning authority a written statement of the reasons for making the direction, expressing the view or making the representations, as the case may be.
Procedure where Secretary of State causes pre-inquiry meeting to be held
5.—(1) The Secretary of State may cause a pre-inquiry meeting to be held if it appears to him desirable and where he does so the following paragraphs apply.
(2) The Secretary of State shall serve with the relevant notice a notification of his intention to cause a meeting to be held and a statement of the matters which appear to him to be likely to be relevant to his consideration of the application or appeal in question; and where another Minister of the Crown or a government department has expressed in writing to the Secretary of State a view which is mentioned in rule 4(2)(c), the Secretary of State shall set this out in his statement and shall supply a copy of the statement to the Minister or government department concerned.
(3) The local planning authority shall cause to be published in a newspaper circulating in the locality in which the land is situated a notice of the Secretary of State’s intention to cause a meeting to be held and of the statement served in accordance with paragraph (2) in such form as the Secretary of State may specify.
(4) The local planning authority and the applicant shall, not later than 8 weeks after the relevant date, each serve an outline statement on the other and on the Secretary of State.
(5) Where rule 4(2) applies, the local planning authority shall—
(a)
(a) include in their outline statement the terms of—
(i) any direction given together with a statement of the reasons therefor; and
(ii) any view expressed or representation made on which they intend to rely in their submissions at the inquiry; and
(b)
(b) within the period mentioned in paragraph (4), supply a copy of their statement to the person or body concerned.
(6) The Secretary of State may in writing require any other person who has notified him of an intention or a wish to appear at the inquiry to serve, within 4 weeks of being so required, an outline statement on him, the applicant and the local planning authority.
(7) The meeting (or, where there is more than one,...
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