( Email dated 4 July 2012)
Dear Sirs,
I am writing in respect of a letter which I sent to you for the attention of Mr Macey on the 6th June. This was regarding the site visits as part of the examination on the Brechfa West proposal.
I was wondering if you would be able to; a) let me know if this letter was received, and b) if it was received, when I might receive a reply?
I note from your website this morning that a letter from Jonathan Edwards MP on a similar matter has received a reply. The response he has received does not appear to answer his concerns, and likewise it does not address the questions I raised in my letter. The response appears to focus on the issue of the site visits being accompanied or unaccompanied. This does not address the concern that he, or I, have raised regarding a refusal to conduct either unaccompanied or accompanied visits to private residences.
I therefore look forward to receiving a reply to my questions, clarifying the issues directly.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs Claire Dugdale
( Email dated 6 July 2012)
Dear Ms Wilding,
Thank you for your reply.
I am glad that Mr Macey still has the opportunity to apply flexibility to his examination.
I have listened to the recordings, and I was present at both of the hearings mentioned. Whilst he did state he had a reasonable familiarity with the area, and he mentioned he had walked a local footpath, he was not specific as to where and when these visits took place. Given that under Rule 16 of the procedures he is obliged to make interested parties aware of where and when visits are planned, I assume this same rule can be applied to the visits to public locations that have already taken place. I would be grateful if you could send me, and interested parties, a copy of this information, detailing the locations, routes and times.
In closing, I would look forward to receiving this before next week's hearings. As in the current timetable, there is no opportunity for a specific hearing- either issue specific or site visit- on landscape and visual impact, the open floor hearings on Wednesday are the last opportunity for this issue to be discussed. It would therefore save time if this information was available in advance.
Kind regards,
Mrs Claire Dugdale

Dear Ms Dugdale,
Thank you for your emails of 6 June and 4 July 2012. I apologise for the delay in responding and can confirm that we have received these.
The main reason for not responding any earlier was that I had hoped to be able to give you a more specific answer to the queries you had raised. I can assure you that Mr Macey has not yet made a final decision as to whether or not to visit any private properties. Should he decide that a visit of certain private properties is necessary then the consent of the owners of these properties will be sought and all Interested Parties made aware of his plans as required by rule 16 of the Infrastructure Planning (Examination Procedure) Rules 2010.
With regards to letting Interested Parties know where he has visited on his unaccompanied site visits, I do know that Mr Macey made reference to some areas he has visited in his introductory remarks at the hearings on noise and on transport and local access. He also explained in response to an invitation in the hearing on noise that it would not be appropriate for him to undertake confidential visits to individual properties. The recordings of these hearings are available on the Brechfa project page of the infrastructure planning portal in the hearings section.
I'm afraid that I cannot say any more at this time. It is the responsibility of Mr Macey as the Examining Inspector to determine how he conducts the examination and how he will report on it. His report will, of course, be published when the Secretary of State announces his decision on the application, and it will be for Mr Macey to explain his conclusions and how he has reached them.
yours sincerely
Simone Wilding