20th march 2020 I was about to write to you regarding your decision to go ahead with the Supplementary Consultation Response as planned when I received an email advising that Highways England have extended the response date by One Week to the 2nd April. Utterly ridiculous! It was my opinion before and still is, that Highways England made a serious error of judgment to continue with the Consultation process after the necessity of cancelling Public and Mobile Information Events due to the severity of the Coronavirus situation. This is a Major project and everyone is entitled to have the same opportunity to attend the Public Information Events etc. to see the large scale maps of the entire route, and sections of it, and get answers to any questions they might have so that they are aware of the impacts of the LTC during construction and when it is up and running. Proceeding with the Consultation at this time does not offer everyone this choice. Questions and answers online and over the phone are not sufficient. I believe the whole Consultation should be re-run at a future date when the fear of the Coronavirus is over. Sincerely, Mr. J.B. Thacker

Dear Mr Thacker, Thank you for your email expressing concerns about the adequacy of the Applicant’s Pre-application consultation in the current unprecedented public health situation. Please accept my apology for the late response. The Planning Inspectorate does not have power to intervene in an applicant’s pre-application programme. The process for applying for a Development Consent Order (DCO) is set out in the Planning Act 2008. The timing of the application is at the discretion of Highway England, the Applicant. As you have concerns about the Applicant’s pre-application consultation you should contact the Applicant in the first instance to enable them to address the issues. If you have contacted the Applicant but you are not satisfied that the Applicant has, or will, take account of your comments you can make your comments to the relevant local authority. The local authorities can consider your comments as part of their Adequacy of Consultation Representation submission to the Planning Inspectorate (on behalf of the Secretary of State) at the Application Stage of the process. The Planning Inspectorate will consider any adequacy of consultation representations received from the relevant local authorities when deciding whether or not to accept the application, as required under section 55(4)(b) of the Planning Act 2008 (as amended). It is therefore important to ensure the local authorities are informed of your concerns. Further information about Community Consultation can be found here: attachment 1 As you are aware the proposed application by Highways England is at the Pre-application stage of the Planning Act 2008 process. The Planning Inspectorate is unable to consider representations about the merits of any application until it is accepted for Examination. Further information about the process can be found in the link below to the National Infrastructure Planning website: attachment 2 Should the application be accepted then the application and all the supporting documentation will be published on the project page of the National Infrastructure Planning website: attachment 3 The ‘Registration and Relevant Representation form’ will be made available here during the Pre-examination stage and all parties will have an opportunity to outline their views about the project. The appointed Examining Authority will then use these to carry out an initial assessment of principal issues. Further information about registering as an Interested Party can be found in the Planning Inspectorate’s ‘Advice Note 8.2: How to register to participate in an Examination’: attachment 4 With regard to the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, please refer to the Planning Inspectorate’s published guidance which will be updated as the situation develops. attachment 5 I hope you find the above information helpful. Kind regards