The list below is a record of advice the Planning Inspectorate has provided in respect of the Planning Act 2008 process.
There is a statutory duty under section 51 of the Planning Act 2008 to record the advice that is given in relation to an application or a potential application and to make this publicly available. Advice we have provided is recorded below together with the name of the person or organisation who asked for the advice and the project it relates to. The privacy of any other personal information will be protected in accordance with our Information Charter which you should view before sending information to the Planning Inspectorate.
Note that after a project page has been created for a particular application, any advice provided that relates to it will also be published under the ‘s51 advice’ tab on the relevant project page.
Advice given between between 1 October 2009 and 14 April 2015 has been archived. View the archived advice.
Enquiry
I have seen reference to RiverOak carrying out their statutory consultation in Q1 2017, which is now only a matter of a few weeks away. I understand that they are required by the Planning Act 2008 to produce a Statement of Public Participation, which sets out how this consultation will be carried out. Are you able to confirm whether RiverOak have proposed a SoPP so far? If so, could you please confirm whether the SoPP has been accepted by the Planning Inspectorate, or whether a request for further information has been made by the PI?
If the SoPP has been accepted, could you please provide a copy by return, or alternatively confirm when it will be published on the PI website.
Advice given
The Planning Act 2008 (PA2008) requires developers to prepare a Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC). The Planning Inspectorate does not have a formal role in the preparation of SoCCs, but it does offer a service to review draft iterations of them. The Planning Inspectorate has not been approached by RiverOak in this regard to date.
Developers are required to consult relevant local authorities about what the SoCC should contain. The SoCC details the consultation the developer intends to undertake with the local community about its proposed development. Developers are required to publish a notice stating where and when the SOCC can be inspected, and must carry out their consultation with the local community as set out in the SoCC.
After the consultation period, developers must have regard to any relevant responses received. As part of the application documents, developers must provide a consultation report demonstrating how they have had regard to responses. The consultation report must:
• Give an account of the statutory consultation, publicity, deadlines set, and community consultation activities undertaken by the developer at the Pre-application stage under s42, s47 and s48 of the PA2008;
• A summary of the relevant responses to the separate strands of consultation; and
• The account taken of responses in developing the application from proposed to final form, as required by s49(2).
If you are not satisfied with a developer’s consultation process you should inform the developer about your concerns as soon as possible and allow time for a response. You may also wish to notify the local authority, as they will later have the opportunity to report on their view of the adequacy of the developer’s Pre-application consultation, measuring what was delivered against the commitments made in the SoCC.
