I am a resident of Broadstairs, within the area of Thanet District Council (TDC). I have today learnt that TDC have restricted the consultation with RiverOak to a closed meeting with the Cabinet. The Monitoring Officer has justified this as follows:
"RSP has been undertaking public consultation at various meetings throughout the district as part of the pre-application steps in support of its DCO process. As part of that process, RSP is obliged to consult with Thanet District Council who are the ‘host’ authority for this DCO application. The council welcomes this engagement by RSP as it is something that we initially requested in October 2016. DCO matters (under parts 4 to 8 of the Planning Act 2008) are what is known as ‘executive functions’ which means that the legal authority to deal with these matters rests with the executive and not with Full Council. That is why RSP are being asked to undertake their consultation with the Leader and his Cabinet together with senior council officers and not at a Full Council meeting. Indeed, it would be unlawful for Full Council to deal with this matter, since under the Local Government Act 2000, any function which is the responsibility of an executive of a local authority, may not be discharged by the Full Council, In dealing with this DCO, Thanet District Council is acting in accordance with the Planning Inspectorate guidance. The Planning Inspectorate expect us to ensure delegations are in place and explains that it won’t be possible for the DCO process to be structured around the council’s committee cycles. At Dover District Council for example they delegated all their functions in relation to DCOs to a senior officer in order to enable the council’s functions in relation to Development Consent for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects to be discharged quickly, effectively and efficiently. Similar arrangements are in place for those local authorities dealing with DCOs in relation to nuclear power generation. Other authorities may be dealing with the matter slightly differently because they are not the ‘host authority’. As ‘host authority’ Thanet District Council are (if the DCO is successful) likely to become responsible for discharging many of the requirements (akin to planning conditions) associated with the project. The council are also likely to have a role in monitoring and enforcing many of the DCO provisions and requirements."
I would be grateful for your guidance in this matter since it does seem to be somewhat at odds with the whole ethos of the consultation process.

It is not within the remit of the Planning Inspectorate to comment on operational aspects of a local authority’s functions.
In respect of the Planning Act 2008 process, local authorities have a special role which is summarised in a video at the bottom of the following page on our website: attachment 1
Our ‘Advice note two: The role of local authorities in the development consent process’ provides more detail in this regard: attachment 2
The PA2008 sets out the statutory consultation duties place on Applicants, and I refer you to Chapter 2 of the PA2008 in this regard: attachment 3
The Department for Communities and Local Government has also published guidance on the Pre-application process: attachment 4
For the Planning Inspectorate (on behalf of the Secretary of State) to find that an application is of a satisfactory standard to be examined, it must be satisfied that an Applicant has carried out its Pre-application consultation duties in accordance with the statutory requirements in the PA2008. The tests in this regard are applied in a statutory 28 day ‘Acceptance’ period. More information about the process is available via the first link provided in this response.