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Advice given between between 1 October 2009 and 14 April 2015 has been archived.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.
North Wales Connection
Enquiry
Query (from Jonathan Dean by email on 3 and 4 April 2018):
I have taken the following text from one of your notes about the North West Coast Connection (Meeting note, 14/03/2017) in Cumbria. The meeting was between PINS and National Grid.
"The Inspectorate advised that should targeted consultation be undertaken National Grid may want to consider providing the opportunity for all consultees to comment." "The Inspectorate advised that National Grid should keep the local community informed as much as possible." "National Grid explained that they are attending regular meetings with various stakeholder groups and will share further information with them as soon as they are able"
This is exactly what we want in Anglesey! National Grid have been conducting "targeted consultation" and yet all consultees are denied the opportunity to comment. National Grid have refused to establish a stakeholder reference group on the model they use in Cumbria. Why is Anglesey being treated differently to Cumbria?
Further to my email of yesterday, can I draw your attention to the following text from one of your meeting notes about the North Wales Connection (Meeting note, 10/02/2017). The meeting was between PINS and National Grid. "The Applicant informed the Inspectorate that any further consultation needed was likely to be targeted; for example around changes to specific pylon locations." So, when National Grid inform you they will be conducting "targeted consultation" in Cumbria, you advise them to: "... consider providing the opportunity for all consultees to comment." "... should keep the local community informed as much as possible." And yet when National Grid suggest exactly the same in Anglesey, you didn't advise them to do anything! So I ask again, why is Anglesey being treated differently to Cumbria?
Advice given
The Applicant will be aware of the Guidance on the pre-application process and we will expect them to set out and justify their consultation in their consultation report, which we will check at Acceptance. If you have concerns about the consultation then, assuming you have already made the Applicant aware of your concerns, we would advise you to contact your local authority and set out why you think the Applicant is failing to conduct its consultation properly.
Your comments should be taken into account when the local authority sends the Inspectorate its comments on whether the Applicant has fulfilled its consultation duties. The local authority’s comments on the Applicant’s consultation will be taken into account when the Acceptance Inspector makes their decision whether to accept the application for Examination.
