§ Andrew BennettTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list public planning inquiries in each of the last five years which took evidence for more than five weeks; how soon after the inquiry the inspector made his report to the Secretary of State in each case; and how long it took the Secretary of State to reach a decision in each case. [112356]
§ Mr. McNultyThe following table lists called-in planning applications and recovered appeals inquiries which began and sat for 20 or more days (equivalent to five weeks as inquiries do not normally sit on Mondays) in the period from 1 April 1998 to 31 March 2003 (it therefore does not include Heathrow Terminal 5). The cases, with the exception of Thameslink 2000, do not include Transport and Works Act cases (some of which include linked planning cases) as these are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh Central.
The rules for planning appeals, which came into effect in August 2000, introduced the requirement for the appellant and local planning authority to prepare jointly 877W a statement of common ground. The purpose of this document is to set out the agreed factual information about the proposal in advance of the inquiry, and so reduce the time taken on this when the inquiry opens.
Site Inquiry duration (days) Start of inquiry Close of inquiry Report sent to Secretary of State Date of decision Shellhaven, Thurrock1 — 25 February 2003 — — — Withdean Stadium, Brighton1 — 18 February 2003 — — — MSAs M3,M4,M251 — 5 November 2002 — — — MS As Ml, Leeds, Harrogate, Selby1 — 8 October 2002 — — — Alconbury Airfield, Huntingdon 43 22 May 2001 16 October 2001 28 March 2003 — Castlegate, York 30 15 January 2002 9 August 2002 6 February 2003 — Finningley Airport, Doncaster 58 25 September 2001 13 March 2002 19 September 2002 3 April 2003 Cable Street, Liverpool2 40 6 November 2001 22 February 2002 2 July 2002 5 September 2002 MTL site Liveipool2 40 6 November 2001 22 February 2002 11 April 2002 30 May 2002 Adj M5, Tewkesbury 20 6 November 2001 11 December 2001 15 May 2002 16 August 2002 Heron Tower, Bishopsgate, London EC3 21 23 October 2001 5 December 2001 30 April 2002 22 July 2002 Thingwall Hall, Knowsley 22 22 August 2000 29 January 2001 6 March 2002 9 September 2002 Fulcrum and former Castle Donington Power Station 28 13 February 2001 6 April 2001 1 October 2001 28 February 2002 MSAs M42, Solihull3 38 30 November 1999 16 June 2000 17 October 2000 6 March 2001 Roaring Meg Retail Park, Stevenage 21 11 April 2000 22 May 2000 20 September 2000 23 November 2000 Flowers Brewery site, Cheltenham 40 28 September 1999 15 December 1999 9 July 2000 12 September 2000 Xanadu development, Wigan 26 1 September 1999 9 March 2000 16 August 2000 20 August 2001 Waterside Park, Tameside 24 6 July 1999 17 December 1999 16 May 2000 30 November 2000 Lamberhurst Farm, Faversham 21 3 February 1999 10 March 1999 3 August 1999 30 August 2001 Otterburn Training Camp 26 23 March 1999 27 May 1999 19 October 1999 4 October 2001 Aldbough, East Riding 25 16 February 1999 28 April 1999 5 October 1999 17 February 2002 TWA Thameslink 20004 92 27 June 2000 16 May 2001 10 January 2002 29 January 2003 1 Inquiries that have started and are estimated to sit for more than 20 days. 2 These two inquiries ran concurrently although they related to different sites in Liverpool and the Inspector's report and the decision were issued separately. 3 The inquiry covered three recovered appeals concerning MSAs on the M42—a decision on 6 March 2001 refused two and was minded to grant the remaining one. A final decision has yet to be made. 4 Determined by the First Secretary of State for propriety reasons. Interim decision issued.